Defending Joe Frager Trump's Immigration Debacle and The
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5TJT.COM “What is it that a kidney SERVING NASSAU COUNTY, BROOKLYN, QUEENS, MANHATTAN, donor thinks about BRONX, & STATEN ISLAND before making the decision to proceed with the process?” PG. 4 VOL. 18 | NO. 39 | JUNE 29, 2018 FIVE TOWNS JEWISH TIMES 16 TAMMUZ 5778 | ±¦ ´³²® | $1.00 See Page 3 See Page 24 JDN The Woodbourne Shul, under the direction of Rabbi Mordechai Jungreis, kicked off a new season this week as the headquarters of Torah and tefi llah in the Catskills. Page 54 FROM THE EDITOR Trump’s Immigration Debacle Defending Joe Frager And The Three Weeks BY LARRY GORDON BY RAV YAAKOV FEITMAN KEHILLAS BAIS YEHUDAH TZVI, CEDARHURST r. Joe Frager, a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people, re- ally does not need to be defended, not by us here nor by any- y rebbe, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, zt’l, always quoted to us the Done else for that matter. His words and his actions speak for immortal words of the Maharal, “devarim gedolim einam themselves. However, a recent pseudo-journalistic assault on his integ- Mb’mikreh”—great things are never coincidental. The con- rity by the Forward—best known for attempting these reputation beat- troversy over President Trump’s so-called “child-separation policy” downs—requires some clarity and elucidation. has erupted and even involved Am Yisrael just before the advent of the In brief, the Forward headline reads, “The Jewish Gastroenter- Three Weeks. In an extraordinary, carefully worded statement, Agu- ologist Who Worked As An Agent For An Arab Sheikdom.” Only das Yisrael, which never makes major pronouncements without the part of the story is about the leaders of Qatar who are attempting guidance of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, joined many other Jewish to detach themselves from the Palestinian/ Continued on Page 10 organizations, such as the Orthodox Union, Continued on Page 13 See Page 99 See Page 30 See Page 21 June 29 - 8:11 PM July 6 - 8:10 PM See Luach, Page 12 Features Index, See Page 8 See Page 17 See Page 17 See Page 11 2 June 29, 2018 • 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES JEWISH TOWNS 2018 • 5 June 29, 3 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES • June 29, 2018 TIMES • June 29, JEWISH TOWNS 5 4 the average kidney donor, though Re- appreciation to Dr. Fischer because HEARD IN THE newal has developed a reputation for the fact of the matter is that his life is the alacrity with which they func- being extended and actually saved. tion. The national average waiting So what do these two men have in BAGEL STORE time for a kidney is seven years. With common other than a kidney? Both Renewal, he says, the average wait is Dr. Fischer and Mr. Chait shared with By Larry Gordon about three months, and that is a tru- me this common bond that goes back ly remarkable reflection of the sensi- approximately a half-century. When tivity and concern demonstrated by Dr. Fischer was a ninth-grade student the group and their founders. at MTA (the high-school division of A MATTER OF LIFE Aside from the technical and med- YU), his rebbe was Rabbi Leon Chait, ical details of these types of proce- his kidney recipient’s uncle. n a way, they both feel that they fidential at their discretion. Most dures, the next most dramatic thing But that is not all. Zvi Fischer grew were destined to meet someday, choose anonymity simply because is the seemingly random manner in close to Rabbi Chait over his forma- I and they did. they do not want the attention, and which the donor and recipient are tive years, and Rabbi Chait was actu- June 29, 2018 • 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES JEWISH TOWNS 2018 • 5 June 29, This is a story about two men—one they feel that not revealing their thrown together. In most instances, it ally the presiding rabbi at the Fisch- a recent kidney donor and the other names heightens the altruistic aspect would seem that this is purely a mat- ers’ wedding some 40 years ago. the recipient of the vital organ. It is of the process. ter of a person in the throes of kidney What is it that a kidney donor also about the magnificent work of On the other hand, being out there disease and a willing and able-bodied thinks about before making the deci- Renewal, the organization educating and speaking out serves the cause donor being identified. sion to proceed with the process? Zvi potential organ donors and facili- Fischer says that one of the things tating the process from start to con- he had to grapple with was the idea clusion and through to recovery. Re- of subjecting himself to what many cently, Renewal presided over their Each one feels that would consider an unnecessary sur- 498th kidney transplant, a notewor- gical procedure. On the other hand, thy milestone for a group that has the other is the hero. he says, the pull in the other direc- saved, changed, and so dramatically tion—that is, to do something that impacted so many lives. They expect literally saves a life—is overpowering to reach number 500 over the next and wins out. several weeks. by the encouragement it provides to While that is the case here, in just In making the decision to become On June 12, just a few weeks ago, others who are contemplating taking about all these hundreds of trans- a donor, Dr. Fischer says that he was Dr. Zvi Fischer of Fair Lawn, New that giant step and actually donating plants that have been facilitated by not looking for a consensus from Jersey, donated one of his two kid- a kidney to someone in need. Renewal over the years, it seems that family members; he only discussed neys to Aaron Chait of Queens. Both Dr. Zvi Fischer is a retired gastro- each donor and recipient feels that the matter with his wife and then told men are in their mid-60s, and while enterologist. He submitted the rou- the other is the hero in the dynamic. his children about his decision just they did not know one another, they tine swab from inside his cheek last The donor we are profiling here, Dr. two weeks prior to the surgery which soon discovered that there was in- Sukkos, and he says that he was a Fischer, feels so grateful that Renew- took place at Montefiore Hospital. deed a common bond between them little surprised when he did not hear al was able to find Mr. Chait to receive As to the meeting between donor that goes back decades. from Renewal until about a month his spare—if you can call it that—kid- and recipient, Fischer says it was As is routine, the identities of the later. As a medical professional, he ney. Needless to say, Mr. Chait is donor and the recipient are kept con- was well aware that he was older than filled with even greater gratitude and Continued on Page 6 5 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES • June 29, 2018 TIMES • June 29, JEWISH TOWNS 5 6 BAGEL STORE ably, none actually saves lives as di- Continued from Page 4 rectly and as intimately as Renewal. The group, its staff, and volunteers an emotional moment for both men, are out there working with donors as can be expected. “I never met a and recipients and their families tzaddik like that before,” says Aar- throughout what has to be a trying on Chait. “Here’s a man who gave an and, at some points, pressurized pro- absolute stranger a part of his body. cess. There’s nothing comparable to that.” As Zvi Fischer says, he first thought I asked Mr. Chait whether they about donating a kidney two years have talked since that encounter fol- ago. He hesitated at first because he lowing the transplant in the hospital. privately wondered whether he was He said that they talk on a regular ba- looking for unnecessary trouble by sis and that Dr. Fischer calls him reg- subjecting himself to surgery. But, ularly to see how he is doing. he says, he looked at the statistics June 29, 2018 • 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES JEWISH TOWNS 2018 • 5 June 29, Zvi Fischer was eager to donate a and the extremely high success rate kidney because that is just the way he of these procedures and how they is—a person driven to do something change lives. And taking all that into extraordinary for another person in consideration, he decided to plunge need, and that opportunity could not in and get it done. happen soon enough for him. When Renewal needs more people like Dr. Mr. Chait’s doctors told him that the Zvi Fischer. That is why these men time for needing dialysis was draw- agreed to be identified and why we ing near, he contacted Renewal and are writing their story. Josh Sturm was pleasantly surprised that the or- of Renewal says that today there ganization’s process identified a do- are 400+ people on the Renewal list nor barely three months after contact waiting for kidneys. He adds that in was made. the general population in the United Additionally interesting is that States there is a waiting list of 96,000 both men, who are about the same people. age, observed that they are of a sim- So you see, there are hundreds of ilar stature, have similar values and people like Aaron Chait out there, interests, and are now connected, as and what is needed urgently are more are their families, from here on.