In 1989 I saw the Chick Flick, "Steel Magnolias," starring Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton and Tom Skerritt. The story is true and is based upon the story of writer, Robert Harling's sister, Susan Harling Robinson. It was written in "dermonung" (remembrance) of her and her son who was 2 years old at the time of her death in 1986 due to complications of "tsukerkrenk" (diabetes) and "hir" (kidney) transplant from her mother.

In "Steel Magnolias," Shelby (Julia Roberts) decides to have a child even though doctors warn her against this. She said, "I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

I remember these touching lines from the movie:

Shelby: "I'm lucky. I don't have to wait - Mama's gonna give me one of her kidneys. When? We check in tomorrow mornin. So you getter get goin' on my nails [manicure]." (When a donation is made by a family member, there's a higher likelihood for a " beser" (better) match.)

Yes, the movie had many transplant jokes:

The night before the kidney transplant, Shelby and her family watch a movie titlted, "A Tale of Two Kidneys."

Why the writer's interest in the transplant experience? Look at these statistics:

NEED A KIDNEY? BUY ONE FOR 20k IN RUSSIA.
NEED A LIVER TRANSPLANT? VISIT THE PHILIPPINES. COST: $129k
NEED A HEART? SOUTH AFRICA HAS THEM FOR $140k
(Source: Lisa Ling, National Geographic Special on Organ Donation)

Transplantation is an ongoing physical, emotional and personal journey. Everyday 17-18 Americans die waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs--that's about 6,500 people who die every year in the U. S. waiting for an organ donor That's two times the number dead in the 911 attacks.

In Israel only about 8% of Jews donate organs. The average wait in Israel for a kidney transplant is 4 years. In response, a global gray market has bloomed. In India, for example, poor sellers are quickly matched with sick buyers from Taiwan. Critics call it "transplant tourism."

And NOW we come to the recent newspaper headlines:

"MATCHMAKER" IN ORGAN SCAM

"ORGAN TRAFFIC"

"BROOKLYN MAN ACCUSED OF BUYING, SELLING HUMAN KIDNEYS: LIBERTARIANS SLOW TO DEFEND HIM"

YES, the newspapers report that Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn ALLEGEDLY brokered the sale of black-market kidneys. He bought organs from vulnerable people in Israel for about $10,000 and sold them to "fartsveyflt" (desperate) patients in the United States for as much as $160,000. In an FBI sting, a Mr. Dwek arranged to pay $160,000 for a kidney from an Israeli donor. Mr. Rosenbaum was the broker!

Rosenfbaum had the "chutzpah" to call himself a "matchmaker"! "It's a shonda," said one Orthodox Jewish leader. Rosenbaum ran the Brooklyn branch of Kav Lachayim, a volunteer group that PURPORTS to help sickly children. The charity's sister organization in Israel also has ties to the selling of organs.

Mr. Rosenbaum, you're a "groisser gornisht"--BIG good-for-nothing! What you've done is a "shande."

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Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe agrees with the quote:
"Don't take your organs to Heaven; Heaven knows we need them here."

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___________________________________________
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe is the author of
two books:

"Yiddish for Dog & Cat Lovers" and
"Are Yentas, Kibitzers, & Tummlers Weapons of Mass Instruction?  Yiddish
Trivia."  To order a copy, go to her
website: MarjorieGottliebWolfe.com

NU, what are you waiting for?  Order the book!