The Renewal movement celebrates 1,000 Jews who’ve gone under the knife to save a life
ATfour thirty-two a.m. on a crisp Monday morning, the parking lot at the 7-Eleven convenience store located just off Route 9 in Old Bridge, New Jersey, is just starting to show signs of a new day’s activity after a long night. An elderly man walks out of the store, breakfast in hand, and nods gently to the fellow entering. Drivers park abruptly, make their hurried purchases, and then get back on the road. There are no exuberant greetings here, no loud phone calls; the customers seem to obey the unwritten rule of thou shall not disturb the peace so long as it lasts.
One midsize SUV in the parking lot, though, stands in proud defiance. Its speakers are humming with incessant ringing, audible even to those outside. The rule-breaking SUV’s driver, Rabbi Moshe Gewirtz, serves as the director of Renewal, the trailblazing organization that facilitates kidney transplants within the frum community, and the 7-Eleven is an almost daily early morning stop for him. It’s a 20-minute drive from his Marlboro, New Jersey, home and on the way to all the area’s major hospitals. Most importantly, the store is conveniently situated just 30 minutes from the frum enclave of Lakewood — making it the perfect spot for him to meet kidney donors who need a ride to the hospital, chauffeured to the 7-Eleven by a volunteer for Renewal, where Moshe awaits and takes them the rest of the way.
Today’s surgery, taking place in the Hackensack University Medical Center, a world-class hospital located a stone’s throw from Manhattan, is a milestone for the Renewal team — it’s the organization’s 1,000th lifesaving procedure. I join Moshe in his car so I can shadow him for the day and get a front-seat view how one Yid literally gives the gift of life to another.
At four thirty-five a.m., we’re back on the road, Waze set to Hackensack’s transplant unit, and two steaming cups of exceptionally strong brewed coffee ensconced in each of the cup holders. But aside from the java, there are no hints of the wee hour. Moshe’s phone is constantly dinging with notifications and calls coming in from members of Renewal’s team. A text message comes in from a coordinator to confirm tomorrow’s surgery appointments; he takes a call from Rabbi Menachem Friedman, the director of Renewal national, who is arranging rides for patients and family members to the various hospitals; Mendy Reiner, chairman of Renewal, is checking in on the status of today’s transplant; and Rabbi Josh Strum, Renewal’s director of outreach, wants to touch base about getting their army of volunteers proper instructions on where to deliver Renewal’s famous care packages.
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