Rabbi Andrew Markowitz, president of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County and mara d’asra of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, swabbed to be a kidney donor through Renewal after receiving a question of one of his alumna students from Naaleh High School for Girls, who had just matched to be a kidney donor. “Am I mechuyevet (obligated) to donate my kidney?” she asked him.
Rabbi Markowitz had never received this particular question asked in such a straightforward way, though he has become aware and inspired over the past many years that more and more community members, congregants and even fellow rabbanim have donated kidneys, including his wife Sara’s close friend Dana Gitler, who donated a kidney this past May. “I started to look further into it and prepared a shiur in our shul for Shavous night, about life and the sanctity of life, and after that happened, I discussed it with my wife and said ‘I think I am going to swab,’” he explained.
From two donations in its inaugural year in 2006 to a projected record-breaking year in 2026, Renewal, the 20-year-old Jewish organization dedicated to altruistic kidney donation, has transformed the landscape of kidney donation within the Jewish community and beyond. Renewal’s youngest recipient of a living kidney is just 2 years old and the oldest is 86. The youngest donor is 21 and the oldest donor is 77. Bergenfield’s Rabbi Zev Goldberg, mara d’asra of the Bais Medrash of Bergenfield and a former RCBC president, became Renewal’s 1,500th donor this past July.
Sixty percent of New York’s altruistic kidney donors have been attributed to Renewal, while 33% are attributed to Renewal for New Jersey. Renewal processes over 3,500 cheek swabs a year for potential donors, and the average cost of each donation is $18,900.
Rabbi Markowitz was told he had a match this summer, on Erev Tisha B’Av. He had a few days to think about it, and went for all the testing at the beginning of August. “Baruch Hashem, it really went well, and that within itself was really a moment for me when I was very, very grateful.”
His donation took place on Aug. 24, just 33 days after he matched, which is among the fastest a donation has ever taken place via Renewal. Coincidentally, it also turned out that he had previously met his recipient, Shlomo Zigelstein, a 60-year-old father of six from the Five Towns, and was able to speak with him and give him a bracha after their surgeries.
In recent years, Rabbi Markowitz has not taken his health for granted and paused for a moment to reflect on its importance. “I haven’t always been the healthiest, and in the back of my mind, I thought that being and living a little bit healthier, I thought maybe I could do this. People see me around the neighborhood walking, exercising; I take a lot of phone calls or I meet with people while walking. I knew if I did this, maybe one day I could be zoche (merit) to donate a kidney, and I never thought that day would come. That within itself was really a moment to be grateful.
“I got the official phone call [of the match going forward] when I was in the car with my mother. She heard how Renewal and the hospital took responsibility and how seriously they took this; it really dispelled a lot of concerns.”
In addition to having the full support of Renewal, Rabbi Markowitz’s family was very supportive. “Thank God, the community as well. I am super beyond grateful for the leadership of my shul and every member. I feel part of every family. I was very touched when someone created a Tehillim WhatsApp group. I have been part of the giving end of these for so many years; now, I felt when I was walking into the operating room I felt the tefillos of my family, friends and community really ushering me into the surgery.”
Rabbi Markowitz also added his thoughts about Renewal and the work it does. “It cannot be understated how incredibly thoughtful Renewal is as an organization. They are kind, sincere and so caring about every detail that you don’t know you even need to think about. There is a network of previous donors, people who reached out to my wife, they delivered food and coordinated drop-offs of so many things. As you go through it you understand why it’s created a movement. It’s all about giving more life. It’s something no one else can replicate. It embodies the greatness of the Jewish people.”
“I often quote my wife’s grandfather, Rabbi Mayer Moskowitz, and was able to share this thought from Dovid HaMelech with my recipient: ‘Lo amus ki echyeh: I shall not die but live.’ Some people just live in a state of not dying; dialysis is not really living. But to live and enjoy life, to celebrate simchas, to care about people and be active—I gave him a bracha to take this kidney and use it to live life.”
Iris Zigelstein, Shlomo’s wife, shared that her husband is now at home and the kidney is working. He does have to take precautions and medication to prevent the body from rejecting the kidney, but Iris particularly wanted to share how much of a burden Shlomo’s illness had been on him and his entire family. “It affected him, the family, the house; every day so much was restricted in terms of things he could not do during dialysis. People sometimes don’t understand how important donating a kidney is if someone is on dialysis. When someone is on dialysis you have no life. It’s three times a week, dialysis lasts six to seven hours,” she explained.
“It’s like a dream to have someone to match your DNA that they can donate their kidney. For us it was very difficult to see my husband in this situation. Especially as we have a daughter with special needs, for her it was very hard; she needs her father. When they called us and said they had a donor, we were crying. It’s a dream come true. Rabbi Markowitz and his wife are such special, special people. It’s such a mitzvah and a chesed, one has to be a hero to do this,” she said.
Zigelstein expressed admiration for how much effort it took for Rabbi Markowitz to make this choice. “To go through surgery for someone you don’t know? It’s a real process for the donor also. Baruch Hashem, they were a match. B’ezrat Hashem, he will keep going with the recovery. I want people to understand how important it is to consider donating a kidney if someone is on dialysis. It changes everything.”
Rabbi Markowitz encouraged those who may be inspired to swab to truly think it over. “Consider it, call a donor, reach out to someone and ask them about their experience, or watch some of the videos online. We daven at the upcoming chagim, to be sealed in the Sefer Chaim. This is what I hope for my donor.
“I feel so grateful to be part of this amazing community of donors,” he said.
Learn more about Renewal at renewal.org.
By Elizabeth Kratz