Alisa Flatow of West Orange was 20 years old in 1995 when a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a public bus in Israel, killing her and seven young solders. Unusual for the time, Alisa’s parents made the decision to donate Alisa’s organs, thus paving the way for observant Jews to be open to organ donation.
The AMIT Alisa chapter of West Orange is named in her memory. This year marked her 30th yahrzeit, and the Alisa chapter held its annual fundraiser last week.
The guest speaker for the occasion was Alisa’s childhood friend, author Rebecca Wolf. Wolf’s novel, “Alive and Beating,” inspired by the true events, follows six people: Leah, a young Hasidic woman; Yael, the daughter of Holocaust survivors; Hoda, a Palestinian hairdresser; David, an Iraqi restaurant owner; Severin, a Catholic priest; and Youssef and Yosef, two teenage boys. What did they all have in common? They each needed a transplant, and a tragic death would be a new beginning for them.
The AMIT event took place at Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, where both the sanctuary as well as the aron kodesh are dedicated in Alisa’s memory. Rebbetzin Debra Spivak led Tehillim for members of the IDF and for the release of our hostages. Co-chair Andrea Bier then welcomed everyone to the event, recognizing Rabbi Marc Spivak and his wife Rebbetzin Spivak, spiritual leaders of Congregation Ohr Torah; and Rebbetzin Marylin Marcus, wife of the late Rabbi Alvin Marcus of West Orange’s Congregation AABJ&D, who brought AMIT pushke dinners to her home in the 1970s, and was a major influence in establishing the West Orange chapter.
Wolf, who was interviewed by moderator Chana Shields, a close friend of the author and chair of the AMIT board of directors, said the thing she most hoped to convey through the variety of characters in the book is that essentially we are all the same. The title of the novel, Wolf told the audience, was chosen because after Alisa’s organs were donated to various recipients, the prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, announced at the AIPAC Policy Conference that “Alisa Flatow’s heart was now alive and beating in Jerusalem.”
Stephen’s sister, Susan Flatow Kruger, was also at the event, and said that the man who received Alisa’s heart would ask Stephen for money for taxi rides to the hospital. Later on, he asked Stephen for a car. Steven used to joke that he not only received Alisa’s heart but her spending habits, bringing everyone in the room to laughter.
The event was attended by approximately 70 people and raised over $23,000 for AMIT. “AMIT puts students in cutting edge STEM programs, robotic labs, entrepreneurship incubators and vocational trading centers,” said co-chair Dorene Richman. “AMIT takes care of the whole student, especially after October 7, 2023, when the resilience of Israeli students has been tested like never before. AMIT has been there at every step, providing not only education but emotional and personal support.”
The event, which ended with an elegant dessert reception, was chaired by Andrea and Bryan Bier; Hattie and Arthur Dubroff; and Dorene and Ron Richman. The committee included Rachel Barton Klein and Avi Klein; Sophie and Joshua Levy; and Nina and Ilya Suleymanov.
