Mr. Ken Trachy, the director of Education, at the University of Miami Department of Transplantation, asked me, this year, to write a letter to the Rabbis of South Florida asking them to participate in this Organ Donation Shabbat. He shared with me that there are 53,000 people waiting for a transplant in this country. 500 are here in South Florida. But everyday, nine people will die while waiting for an organ to become available. The technology is here that can help people life long and productive lives after a transplant, there just aren't enough organs to go around.
Every donor thus can make a difference between life and death.
A good friend of mine, was one of these people waiting for a transplant. His liver was destroyed by disease, and he needed a new one to save his life. As the old liver failed, his skin began to have that yellow jaundiced look. On his belt was a beeper. Each and every day, he prayed that the hospital would beep him and tell him that a suitable liver had become available.