39 Comments

• disgusted

  a real Tzaddik. Not.

• 1234

  hahaha give me a break “help” for a tidy sum of $120,000. I hope he goes to jail

• Lawyers....

  They have a way with words……

  Joke: A man dies and goes up to heaven. An angel says to the man that he has been a good and honest man and in return he will get a small apartment. The man agrees. On his way there he sees a huge mansion. He asks the angel who lives there. The angel says a lawyer lives there. The man is surprised and says, “really, surely he wasn’t as good as I was, how come he gets the mansion and I get the apartment?” The angel answers, “well, we’ve never had a lawyer here before!”

• Jason

  Is there anyone who can help with a kidney now? Or we are in trouble again? Are there any orthodox who visit the sick in thier free time awear of the need?

• shlomo

  what exactly frum?

• inocent untill proven

  Attorneys Ronald Kleinberg and Richard Finkel say Rosenbaum never solicited clients but agreed to help desperately ill people by finding them kidney donors.

• yankel

  “In exchange”.

  That does not mean he kept all that money for himself, rather facilitated other people getting it that they in turn should donate their kidney to save a life.

  I’m sure he made a cut, but it’s not that amount..

• Whats the big deal

  He is a good guy, and he did not do anything wrong. I don’t understand why selling a kidney is against the law. Its the persons choice, its not dangerous and it dose not harm anybody. May G-d have mercy on him and save him from prison, and send him back to his loving family.

• Thinkster

  You’d have to look at the wording and interpretation of the laws against organ trafficking vs organ donation.

  If you’re destitute, and I come to you offering $100,000 for your kidney, and you say yes – well that’s probably illegal whichever way you cut it, and whoever benefits.

  We need more facts before we can comment.

• MZ

  To #3 Since when does one Jew wish a jail sentance against another Jew?

• MZ

  he saved 3 lives. How many lives have YOU saved? There are Jews and non-Jews who are dying because their kidneys failed. I hope he is vindicated.

• He needs a heart transplant or brain!

  No money no organ!

• I know something cheaper

  For $300 I say you can fix kidneys up so that they won’t need to be ‘replaced’- same for livers.

• awacs

  Proofreader: he wasn’t indicted today, he pled guilty.

• Milhouse

  #1, yes, why is he not a tzadik? He saved lives; that’s a mitzvah, whether you’re doing it for free or for money. So what if it’s against the law? Since when is that a consideration? We break shabbos to save lives; how then should we not break American law?

  #2, so what if he makes money? Do doctors not make money? Does that mean they’re not doing a mitzvah? Why shouldn’t he make money too? He had to support his family, the same as a doctor does, and he was taking a huge risk (as we see now) so why didn’t he deserve to be compensated for it? If you hope he goes to jail then you are a rosho. He may be going to jail, but you are going to gehinom, which is a lot worse.

• I hope he is freed. Obama needs to stop

  *Russia* is changing the Name of President Obama’s Presidential Administration to: THE PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION OF *SHMUTZ* }THIS IS MORE BEFITTING & ACCURATE [*PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD*]

  They need to UPDATE the stationery and “Presidential” Seals.

  I THINK THIS YID GOT CAUGHT UP IN OBAMA’S PLANS TO PUT INNOCENT PEOPLE INTO PRISON.

• why NOT legalize the sale???

  Hey – excuse me – but ya know, it’s legal to ‘rent your womb’ for money (i.e, to be a surrogate); it’s legal to sell sperm; it’s legal for folks with rare blood types to get paid for donating their blood. WE, in the US, have continued to outlaw the sale of kidneys — I believe in India it’s legal. Point is, most people are born with an ‘extra’ kidney that they don’t need and could donate to save someone else’s life. Wouldn’t it be a win-win if we legalized the sale? I know, it might lead to the exploitation of poor people who would possibly feel they have to submit to selling their organ to support themselves……. don’t believe it.

• to #13

  If it was so easy and worked, then people wouldn’t need transplants, but obviously it’s not.
  So until you can make headline news and publicize this info so that whoever needs the help can benefit, don’t judge!

• to #8

  i agree with you..he was trying to help..

• Made in China

  In China they execute prisoners and then harvest the organs.

• shlomo

  in CHCJC on Kingston, on a desk near rent, sale find always buy kidney. big mitzva etc… so next time FBI come to CH?

• Tzaddik

  When I first saw the title of the article I was shocked, but after reading it through, I think that he did an amazing thing. How many of us would risk our own safety and personal life in order to save someone else’s? Thats exactly what he did. He now faces prison because he did what was necessary to save several Jewish souls. I also believe that there is nothing wrong with a person choosing to sell their ‘extra’ organs, as long as it is their adult choice and their organs were not stolen from them. Most people would not donate an organ unless there was some major incentive or if the person receiving it was a close family member.

• To #17

  Here’s the problem: the valid examples you bring up, are not life or death scenarios. If the US Gov’t legalizes the sale of organs, then the people who can’t afford such a hefty price tag – should they then be denied the opportunity to live a normal and productive life? If it becomes legal, then there no longer be a reason for someone to be an organ donor, if I can do it for big bucks? why not? Legalization isn’t going to solve the problem at its core (being an organ donor in my opinion, is not a transaction – but rather the desire to help someone else get their life back).

  Did he save lives? yes Did he make a parnassa? yes – was it legal, not sure – I also dooubt he paid any taxes on it. How could he report the income? Consulting business??

  Should he go to jail – not sure, that’s not for me to judge

  Should he be ashamed of himself – Certainly!!

• shlomo

  if this man so want help to others why he still have 2 kidney?

• To #18 AND ALL

  If something is not famous to you then it is not valid? Is that scientific evidence? You have much to learn about the way this ‘Olam Hasheker’ runs. Money, not what really works, is the push is medicine these days. There are many out there doing it right, but cannot do it as openly as it should be. Do some research yourself and be educated. When it comes to health more people should take a more active role, especially in situations when ‘modern’ medicine gives little hope/has a bad record. I only say this since I know what is available and many don’t know about it. If it is a matter of live and the opposite, I can’t stay quiet. Please contact me: betternaturalhealing@gmail.com for info or proven treatments for ‘incurable’ conditions.

• Milhouse

  #25, If someone had a real cure for renal failure it would be famous. The fact that it’s not famous proves that it doesn’t exist. There is nothing at all preventing a safe and effective cure from being published and publicized; if someone says he “cannot do it as openly as it should be”, he’s a charlatan trying to scam you out of your money.

• Alternative Medicine is Murderous FRAUD

  To 25:

  I cannot judge whether Mr Rosenbaum is a tzaddik or not as I don’t fully understand the halachic ramifications.

  I do know that if your alternative treatments keep ONE person away from legitimate medical care for ONE day, then you are a ROIDEF and a ROITZEACH. If that is what you’re doing, then you need about 10 years of medical treatment in Otisville or surgery without anesthesia in a back alley.

  If you’re just selling vitamins to healthy people as part of an MLM pyramid, at prices many times what Landau’s sells for, then you’re stam a gonif as far as I’m concerned but hey, if you want to make money by overcharging your fellow Yid it is between you, him and der Aibishter.

  Rav Avraham Blumenkrantz A“H, who suffered most of his life from chronic illness L”A, labeled your type of medication “kishuf.”

• Milhouse

  #27, Kishuf is exactly right. Homeopathy, for instance, depends on the same principle as voodoo.

• To 27 and 28, and many others

  There is a joke about an atheist having a discussion with a Rabbi. The rabbi asked if he knew the Shulchan Oruch, Rambam, etc. He said no. The rabbi responded: “Then you are an ignoramus, not an atheist!” Do you know that most of ‘medicine’ is based on herbs? Do you know both sides of medicine? I do. Do you know that ‘alternative’ covers many fields, including herbal,homeopathy, energy, etc (and it was not Rabbi Blumenkrans but another rabbi’s article, which I see was lacking in knowledge) which some give it a bad name- there are quacks out there. But to take the liberty of saying it’s a scam means you have lots to learn and research. I have shown things to doctors who now use what medicine cannot offer.
  Please use your head to know facts before your mouth/computer to show ignorance. Sorry about being harsh, but there are people that are suffering and can get help if there were more selfless people and government.

• Alternative Medicine is Murderous FRAUD

  I stand 1000% behind what I said.

  You belong in jail for what you are pitching, and I have seen far too many of Anash and other frum Yidden fall for alternative medicine. The MLM schemes behind some of it (mainly on the supplement end) only adds to the criminal aspect of this dangerous fraud.

  When willow bark is (was) processed into aspirin, or periwinkle into vincristine (may our soinim be the only ones who need that), or fir needles into taxol (ditto re soinim), it is a very different process from preparing worthless and useless herbal extracts. Even the few possibly legitimate herbal remedies, such as aloe vera for skin, or S John’s Wort for mora schoira, are best bought from a reliable pharmacy, because the “purity” claims made by the alternative medicine crowd are pure fraud and just an excuse to sell $10 worth of medicine for $50.

  Homeopathy is a complete scam. Full stop. How Yidden are dumb enough to fall for that one is beyond me. Any child who is given homeopathic remedies instead of proper treatment for any treatable childhood illness should be taken from his parents by Child Protective Services.

  If you want to use herbs the way alternative practitioners do, you can buy herbal tea or drink liquor such as arak (anise) or Jagermeister (different herbs). I assume you can get herbal tea for about a dollar a box at any Chinese market or dollar store, and even in high-tax areas, arak and Jagermeister cost a lot less than the kishuf potions that “herbalists” pitch to suckers. And if you catch cold and want a placebo effect, arak and herbal tea are just fine – the taste makes you think you’re getting relief. But chicken soup is better :).

  I know that Reb Eli Teitelbaum A”H also wrote against alternative medicine. Reb Eli told it like it is on just about any issue he wrote about, and that includes this murderous alternative medicine and overpriced supplement fraud that is sweeping through our communities.

• Anon

  Breaking a Halachic law on Shabbos to save someone’s life shouldn’t be compared to breaking US law in regard to organ trafficking. You’re not going to pause while someone is in danger and say, “It will cost $200K to save you.”

  Undocumented organ trafficking is just that, undocumented. It can spread disease. If it’s undocumented then we can’t track disease and death and anyone who is a victim of the trade is most likely not going to speak up out for obvious reasons.

  India is not a gold standard for ethics and just because it’s legal in one awful place doesn’t mean it’s okay.

  It’s faulty to say that because a cure isn’t famous isn’t famous means that it doesn’t exist. Cures developed by someone who works for a pharmaceutical company do not belong to the worker but the company. What makes more financial sense, administering a one shot deal and nobody gets the flu ever again or filling store shelves with a variety of suppressants and telling people to get vaccinated? There is plenty that stops a potential cure from reaching the masses; FDA, lobbyists, politicians tied to big pharma. Do some research and you’ll find potential cures have been shelved. They never made headlines, either.

• Anon

  “The fact that it’s not famous proves that it doesn’t exist.”

  One could also say, “The fact that many people, including Jews, have not had their prayers answered, witnessed divine intervention or felt any sense of G-d in their lives proves G-d doesn’t exist.”

  The fact you’ve never met an Aborigine means they don’t exist? What about the recently discovered lost Amazon tribe? They didn’t exist before they made (limited) headline news? That’s some logic!

• To: Mr Fraud

  Sounds like you got ripped off somewhere in your past…Much anger and not much in facts-just ranting what medicine preaches- I’ve been through that in school. I speak facts and know more on this topic. You never asked why I believe so, or what proof I have, or why I say this after studying ‘Western’ medicine. Don’t you think I know all that nonsense you say? And not all herbs are water soluble to make a tea, as you want to believe. But I can only discuss things with people rational, so I will let it rest here. You do what you feel is best and support the pharmaceuticals and noble FDA, and I will keep warning how that is blindly letting yourself get into other problems and side effects. I will keep offering and advising herbal use (I think it has been around a bit more and has a better safety profile, and they don’t keep getting pulled off the shelves for deaths, and some stubborn people out there keep using it for some illogical reason…) maybe like stubborn Jews that follow what they know is true. Why do many doctors ‘switch’ to natural? Have you heard of Drs: Nicholas Gonzalez, Burzynski among many others? Before replying please use ‘google’ or something and study the topic well- there is much to be found.

• to 30

  Willow bark is safer on the stomach than aspirin. People don’t always perfect what Hashem put for our use- unless they make a profit off it…Finding ‘active’ ingredients is a joke, as shown in many cases. The active ingredient is the whole herb. Use what you like, but Hashem knows best.

• Alternative Medicine is Murderous FRAUD

  Many cures exist, the way many investment opportunities exist.

  Some cures are as solid as Treasury bonds, others are as risky, but as legitimate, as some NASDAQ stocks, and then there are the alternative medicine snake oil cures, the medical equivalent of the infamous Nigerian 419 advance fee letter scams.

• Alternative Medicine is Murderous FRAUD

  To 33: Yawn. And ibuprofen, naproxen and acetaminophen/paracetamol, all synthetic compounds, are gentler on the stomach and perhaps more effective than aspirin.

  All three of those products, like aspirin, are sold generically at a far lower profit margin than just about any alternative remedy. That is because they work and demand for them is high, so they are turned out in huge batches at a very low profit per unit. Ditto for many very standard RX drugs. I understand Wal-Mart and Target sell some of those lifesaving drugs for $4 per unit.

  Homeopathic and herbal extracts are overpriced because they are only in demand among those whom PT Barnum said are born every minute. Therefore, and especially considering what is really in them, they are produced by sleazy, often unregulated, operators at very high profit margins.

• To: Pro NSAIDS

  Are you implying or think NSAIDS and acetaminophen are great for you? Do you study liver and kidney pathology too? You are a jack of all trades. Do you practice medicine at all or just know someone that does? I cannot even address what you say as it sounds like you are convinced about some conspiracy theory about anyone not like you. I happen to do what you think is voodo but don’t fit your stereotype- how is that possible for someone that knows it all?

• Scam?

  I think the one bashing alternatives is someone in the medical world, and is protecting his/her source of income. We all have to make a living…Maybe to yell that the others are bad would take away any guilty feelings that maybe many out there are telling something with truth. Just speculating.

• Just curious

  I’m a little confused. but wasnt Rosenberg linked to the Gindi family in Operation Bid Rig?