Rabbi’s Kidney Saves Life of Israeli Family Man

When someone is sick, loved ones pray for their health, recite Psalms and try to add a measure of goodness in this world in his merit. But for Rabbi Mendy Mathless, such efforts weren’t enough. Informed that someone he never knew was in need of a kidney, he gave him his.

Two months after the life-saving donation, Mathless – the new director of Chabad-Lubavitch of University Heights and South Mall in Albany, N.Y. – and his wife, Devora Leah Mathless, are in Israel to celebrate the newfound health of Yisrael Konstantini, a Chasidic father of three who doubted that he’d ever have a second chance of life.

After many surgeries 14 years ago, Konstantini’s kidneys took a turn for the worst. He began dialysis, an exhausting ritual performed three times a week, and looked for a donor in his native Israel. Doctors once thought his sister would present a match, but just before the surgery, ruled it out as impossible. Over time, hope gave way to emotional pain.

“It was very, very difficult,” says Konstantini, who lives in the coastal city of Netanya. “The waiting was worse than all the surgeries.”

The man turned to Europe and South America, but again, was told a match didn’t exist.

“By that point, I almost lost hope,” he says.

A friend called Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, who as a top official with Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, stays informed of projects and activities around the globe. Kotlarsky suggested Rabbi Avrohom Lider, founder and director of Ahavas Chesed, an organization in Brooklyn dedicated to helping people with all types of needs. Lider invited Konstantini to come to New York.

“Come, I’ll take care of you,” Lider told the Israeli.

Konstantini learned of the Crown Heights Jewish community’s rallying for a similar patient, a father of nine who also needed a kidney.

Lider “greeted me with open arms, and took care of me like a friend, a father, a brother,” says Konstantini.

In New York, Lider and volunteers plastered walls and polls with signs urging people to consider kidney donation. Months went by, and Konstantini underwent dialysis in Brooklyn.

Article continued at Chabad.org – Unrelated Brothers