On Thursday, December 14, BPY middle school students learned about many aspects of live organ donation, during a special “Discovery Learning Day” program, designed to inspire students to relate their learning to “the world” and “real life.” The students were privileged to hear from Rabbi Sturm, of Project Renewal, a Jewish organization that works to match kidney donors and recipients. They also heard from a kidney donor, BPY parent Karen Orgen, and then from a kidney recipient, who both so eloquently relayed their experiences to the students.

Afterward, the students participated in workshops to learn about some specific types of live organ donations. They dissected an animal kidney, and learned about blood-typing and how to determine whether there can be a match between donor and recipient. In addition, they studied the halacha that is relevant to organ donation and the rabbinic arguments posed both ‘in support’ and ‘not in support’ of the procedure. In a special math class, they calculated statistics to understand the level of need and odds of matching donor to recipient. During the latter part of the day they heard from a representative of Ezer Mitzion, the international organization that does the cheek swabs to keep in an information bank for potential bone marrow matches. And, as a finale, at the end of the day the students participated in debates, with students articulating both ‘pro’ and ‘con’ arguments regarding organ donation, and also ‘pro’ and ‘con’ arguments regarding whether organ donation should be mandatory.