Community Magazine April 2013

32 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Magen Abraham in West Long Branch feels that AJ is “a great bacher ” who is “tremendously dedicated” and “embodies Torah.” He adds that AJ performs mitzvot “quietly,” and he is “very private as far as these things go.” AJ was president of the synagogue for many years, and helped raise money for building construction. Mayer Chemtob, who took over AJ’s position as Chairman of the Deal Division of SBH, says, “It was an honor to take over from him as chairman; I couldn’t come to the toenails of what he has done.” Chemtob considers AJ a mentor and close friend. “He’s a man of an open heart,” he describes. “He does things for the sake of heaven and the sake of making a person’s life the best it could be. He does things without looking for anything in return. He does things purely for the sake of hesed . He wants nothing in return. He wants another Jew to feel special and to live in this world peaceably and honorably.” But resting on his laurelswasn’t something AJ was about to do. He firmly believes that every Jewish soul must be fully invested in tzedekah , and that there are no limits to the creative ways in which we can “give back.” And so, despite all that AJ he has done in the past for the community, and just when one may have assumed that it was not possible for a person to do even more, he made a personal sacrifice by donating his kidney to save another man’s life. Even now, he continues that mission, though in a slightly different way. He obviously cannot give any more kidneys, but he is determined to spread the word in our community, and beyond, urging others to take up the task of this life-saving mitzvah . ”One of the main points that I would like to drive home is that there are people suffering with bad kidneys, and we as a community need to help. There are hundreds of people waiting for kidneys. I want to tell people you don’t need to be a superhero to do it. The upsides far outweigh the downside. Recovery is relatively quick, and if I had the opportunity, I would do it again in a heartbeat. You are giving someone a second chance at life.” Renewal is a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting people suffering from various forms of kidney disease. They are dedicated to saving lives through kidney donation. Renewal is there for every patient and their family at every stage of the challenging journey towards health, providing many services to both donor and recipient. They strive to make the kidney donors’ experience as smooth as possible and provide continuous support and guidance from the initial phone call throughout the kidney donation process. For more information, please call: 718-431-9831 or email: information@ renewal.org . AJ Gindi with Menachem Friedman, the Program Director at Renewal. Mitchell Bornstein - one month after the the procedure.