Skip to main content

Organ Donors in Israel

A few months ago, we invited Robbie Berman of the Halachic Organ Donor Society (HODS) to give a talk in our community.  His focus was on explaining why it is allowable for a jewish person to donate organs after brain stem death.   The talk was exciting and interesting and generated a lot of positive discussion.  During our Thanksgiving Anniversary dinner, we signed up 40 people for organ donor cards!

Unfortunately, there is another side to this story.  Everyone who showed up to the talk had an anglo-saxon (english speaking) background.  Everyone who signed the card has the same background.  We made no inroads what-so-ever in the Israeli born population of our community.

One of my neighbors decided to try and make a difference.  She talked to Robbie and to me about doing a signup drive for the whole community.  After discussion, we agreed that the first place to go was to get the agreement of our community Rabbi.  We respect his positions and see his involvement as critical to breaking into the Israeli born culture.

Today we met with the Rabbi and learned another reason why you should not sign donor cards in Israel.  The Rabbi agreed that this was an important issue, but he was concerned about how the decision is made that the donor is legally dead.  From his perspective, the medical establishment in Israel is untrustworthy.  Because of pressures (academic, social or otherwise), these doctors will be tempted to jump the gun and declare a person dead before their time.  The only reasonable approach is to have a religiously acceptable oversight committee make the decision on the stop.  Since such a committee does not exist, one should not sign a donor card. QED.

To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement.  My insight from our discussion is the massive culture gap between those born and raised in the United States (or England) and those born and raised in the Middle East.  I have an instinctual trust for the medical and legal institutions.  In my world, Doctors try their best to save patients and are ethical, responsible people.

For those born in the Middle East, there is no trust.  There is a cynical belief that everyone is out only for their own interests.  Here's a story that epitomizes this belief. 40 years after Israel's first transplant, donor's family reveals dark secret.  The story is that the first organ transplant in Israel occurred without the knowledge or agreement of the donors family and, it goes without saying, without oversight.  After reading this kind of story, is it any wonder that there is no trust?

As Anglo's, I feel that we have a responsibility to change the system.  The first step to making a change is to be trustworthy and ethical.  If you yourself do not live up to these standards, then how can you expect others to do the same.  In Israeli culture, this applies at all levels.  Our politicians need to lead the charge, not be stuck in the dark ages, where everyone is corrupt or corruptible.  Our medical establishment needs to be squeaky clean (and here, I have no personal experience of any "unclean" doctors).   Our religious leadership needs to be above reproach.

Today is one of those days that I am ashamed to be living in Israel.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A change of pace (Kidney Failure)

I have been trying to keep this blog focused on hospitality and food.  God though has other plans for his creations and I find now that I will have to expand the scope to cover new topics.  I'll try to continue blogging about my menus and our guests, but expect more posts that have little or nothing to do with food. In February of this year, My second oldest son, Asaf was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure. Simply put, both his kidneys are damaged and scarred from some infection or defect that happened years ago.  They will likely cease to function sometime within the next six months. The good news is that there is no immediate danger to his life.  Kidney Dialysis is a viable option and can maintain his health for up to ten or more years if necessary.  Unfortunately, the process is not easy and there are potential side effects. Given Asaf's generally excellent health and age, Kidney Dialysis is considered only a stop-gap measure and not a long term solution. The best solutio...
13 comments
Read more

Family, Friends and Guests

Another week, and this Shabbat is going to be busy.  We have four guests from NCSY who are in Israel for a summer program.  They will be eating dinner with us, but eating lunch with the rest of their group.  My sister and her family are coming over from Alon Shvut.  Her husband works with groups from the states during the summers and is almost never home for summer Shabbatot.  To top it off, we have a few friends who are temporarily alone. Their wife or husband is away for Shabbat.  They will add some flavor to tomorrow's lunch. Menus are pretty simple this week.  All stuff I've made before.  I'm in a bit of a rut, partially because the vegetables this year are less plentiful than last year.  Its a shmita year and even though we hold heter mechira, there is just less good produce.  Partially, its because I need some ideas.  I havn't read a new cookbook in while.  I'll try and review some old ones this weekend.  I've talked to professional chef's who go throu...
1 comment
Read more

Post Wedding!

What a feeling!  Married off my son and gained a daughter.   The wedding was very special.  As befits our family, it went off according to schedule, even finishing 15 minutes early.  Yet, no-one felt that it was too short or that something was missing.  The dancing was perfect and the shtick funny and smooth.  All in all, a good evening was had by all. The young couple are like cats that have just eaten the bird.  They walk around with a big grin.  No worries.  What a wonderful time to be young, in love and married!  May they have many such years together in happiness and health. The weekend after the wedding it is traditional for the families to have meals together.  The mother's of the couple have arranged to serve meals at the local synagogue.  Of course, both families are making parts of the meals.  Like the marriage, this weekend is a partnership. My father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law and two brother's...
3 comments
Read more