DECEMBER 26 • 2024 | 35

far somebody has to go to save a
life is a decent question,” he notes.
“Judaism has plenty to say about it.”
Kantor says he’s very invested
in encouraging community
members to sign themselves up
as organ donors on their driver’s
licenses, and says as far as being a
living donor, he encourages being
tested. “It’s not a mitzvah to be a
living donor, but it’s a definitely a
praiseworthy and commendable
act, if you know it’s going to save
somebody’s life,” he explains, saying
he framed it during his sermon as
one of the ways the community
can come together to take care of
each other. From his perspective,
he says, “it’s both permitted and
highly praiseworthy.”
Jillian Berger of Farmington Hills
tried to find out if she was a match
when her friend posted online
that his cousin needed a kidney
transplant back in 2019. So, when
her dad was going through kidney
failure, she took to her networks.
It’s all private who responds to
the request, she says, recalling that
a friend reached out to say she’d
called for information on donating,
but she says she was appreciative
of the community’s public response
as well.
“We got a lot of well wishes,”
Berger says, “and I didn’t expect
for 100 people to be like, ‘I’m going
to do it’, but I wanted to put that
awareness out there, maybe put the
bug in people’s ear so they’d maybe
look into it further.”
It’s a topic she says she feels isn’t
talked about much in the Jewish
community, she says, adding
that she’d like to see it get more
visibility, whether online, through
synagogue newsletters or clergy.
Her dad is still awaiting a
transplant.
Paul Ehrmann of West
Bloomfield says his son Daniel
has created a website and has also
been public on Facebook about
his search for a kidney donor.
Born with Autosomal Dominant

Polycystic Kidney Disease
(ADPKD), Daniel Ehrmann is
using online mediums to look for
a match. “He’s gotten a very good
response,” Ehrmann says.
Sharing such information online
does mean being vulnerable,
he says, but it works to spread
awareness and the call to action.
“Online has been of tremendous
value in getting the word out in an
efficient way,” Paul Ehrmann says.
“I think it’s a great tool.”
It’s a change from what Ehrmann
remembers back in 2002, when
his wife Robin got a transplant, he
says, and word of mouth was the
main way people disseminated such
requests.
Notably, word of mouth still has
its place, he adds. “We met with
our rabbi,” he explains. “He was
kind enough to bring this up to the

congregation … and he put it in the
newsletter.”
Lynn Breuer of Farmington Hills
joined various Jewish Facebook
groups serving Metro
Detroit for the first
time during the
pandemic. There
she found recipes,
friendship and ways to
help other families, like
sharing goods through
porch pickups. That level of
connectedness was a natural segue
to connecting on more important
issues, from antisemitic incidents
to someone in the community
needing medical help, she says.
“Then it was less about light-
hearted matters like decluttering
a closet and finding things
you want to rehome and more
about significant issues, and the

community was there,” she says.
Breuer had posted to Facebook
when friends of a family member
had a medical need, as they had
emailed to give express permission
to share about it to reach as wide a
circle as possible.
“When I did that in a small
attempt to help, there was a
wonderful community response in
a very short amount of time,” she
says. “I don’t know the outcome. I
don’t know if a donor was found
through the group; I have no
idea. But people responded —
many, many people responded
with suggestions and with their
willingness to get tested.”
While not a broad user of
social media, she says she sees a
tremendous amount of value in the
handful of unique Jewish groups
on Facebook. It’s another way for
the community to rally around
someone who needs help in all its
various forms, she says, adding that
she was surprised and touched as
responses quickly rolled in.
Breur passed on every piece of
relevant information she could,
including stories people shared
about the potential recipient. “I
hope that helped in some way,”
she says. “It gives the people in the
community a direct way to touch
other people’s lives.”
Stacey Wiesenthal, of Beverly
Hills, posted to Facebook to help
find a donor for the mother of one
of her closest friends, and says she
got a nice response from the Jewish
community. “When you find out
that someone is sick you often feel
pretty helpless,” she says. “Trying to
help recruit people to sign up to be
on the donor registry was an easy
way I could help.”
She was heartened to see
people step up in times of need,
Wiesenthal says. “Our Jewish
community is so strong and always
willing to support one another.
We’re all connected. It feels like
you’re posting to your family versus
strangers.”

Lynn Breur

: The donor will have many out of pocket expenses.

; The medical costs are covered by the recipient’s insurance.

People can apply for grants to help with uncovered costs.

: Once a donor begins the donor evaluation process, that person may feel obligated

and afraid to change their mind.

; A donor can change their mind at any time.

: My religion prevents me from being a donor.

; Most religions support living donation.

Donors are encouraged to speak with their faith leader.

:
If a person does not offer to donate, that must mean the person is not interested

in donating.

; Many people don’t know that living donation is an option.

: A donor will have trouble getting health insurance/life insurance after they donate.

; There are protections in place to ensure donors have appropriate access

to care.

:
Living kidney donors won’t live healthy lives with just one kidney.

; Donors are at no greater risk than the general population of developing any

health related issues to their kidneys and are carefully screened to ensure

they are healthy enough to donate.

: Living kidney donors live a shorter life.

; There is no evidence that donation shortens a person’s lifespan.

:
Living kidney donors are more likely to get kidney disease after donating.

; Donors are counseled about their individual risk associated with donation.

: Only younger people are able to get kidney transplants.

; All patients who are medically suitable are eligible for transplants.

: Adults over age 50 can’t donate.

; Donors must be healthy and can donate primarily on a basis of health, not age.

OVERCOMING COMMON KIDNEY DONATION MYTHS

kidney.org/livingdonation
kidney.org/transplantation