The Gift of Life

Hannah Estrin
KOACH Fieldworker

As a member of the "multi-gallon club," I recently traversed the two blocks to my shul for a blood drive, only to find that they were overbooked. Not a problem -- I live in LA. I hopped in my car and drove to the local blood bank where I took my 20 minute nap (squeezing at the same time of course) and hopefully, helped save someone’s life.

20 minutes to save a life – it is hard to make a case against giving blood. Even easier, in three minutes and no needles, you can register for the Bone Marrow Registry. This year, Hillel has partnered with the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation. Gift of Life collects donor information and maintains the registry which can provide a match that can save a life. Students at Hillel Leader’s Assembly, at the KOACH Kallah, on birthright israel trips, and on campuses throughout the continent have taken the opportunity to add their names and have their cheeks swabbed.

Following a pigua (suicide bombing) during the 2003 Winter KOACH birthright israel trip, the tour organizer set up a blood drive through Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross). Nearly 70 pints of blood were donated by birthright israel participants in one evening. This year, following the tsunami, the KOACH birthright israel group led the effort to collect money for the victims from other students traveling in Israel. These one time efforts, once begun, often continue on campus and in the community beyond.

The obligation to save a life, known as pikuah nefesh, includes the duty to protect the life of one's fellow human being, should he or she be in mortal danger. This is the significance of the commandment "You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor." (Lev. 19:16) Codifying this mitzvah in his Mishneh Torah, Maimonides emphasizes how broadly the obligation devolves: "Anyone who is able to save a life, but fails to do so, violates 'You shall not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.'" These sources provide the halakhic basis for the decision by the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards that "the preservation of human life is obligatory, not optional."

The halakhic viewpoint on giving blood and bone marrow is an extension of this obligation. Magen David Adom in Israel and synagogues of all denominations world-wide run blood drives each year. Peruse the web and the only halakhic discussions on blood donation which you’ll find are about discarding potentially good blood and ensuring that anyone who donates is not embarrassed if their blood is unusable.

Stores of blood throughout the United States continue to be at a dangerously low level on good days and when a natural disaster hits the situation worsens exponentially. What can you do? Give blood and join the Bone Marrow Registry. Even better – arrange a blood drive and a Bone Marrow drive on your campus. The American Red Cross and Gift of Life, respectively, will come to you and they will bring everything with them. All you need to do is arrange it and advertise it. This mitzvah can save a life!

To set up blood drive - contact your local blood bank or the American Red Cross at www.givelife.org or 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.

To set up a bone marrow drive - contact Gift of Life at www.giftoflife.org or Debbie Rauh at drauh@gifloflife.org, 1-800-9-MARROW.

[Posted 3/9/05]