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