In an article he wrote in the "Shabbat" supplement a few months ago, he said: "All I did was actually make wonderful people donate to the altruistic kidney donation."

• Rabbi Yeshayahu Hatzar // Photo: Tzahi Miriam

Rabbi Yeshayahu Hatzar, who passed away yesterday (Thursday) after contracting the Corona virus, had a kidney implanted himself and later founded the "Gift of Life" nonprofit that has saved about 800 people so far through an altruistic kidney donation.

In 2008, the kidneys of the bar, which was then an educator and rabbi, collapsed at the Netivot Wisdom meeting. During the long dialysis sessions he met Pinchas Turgman, a 19-year-old who also needed a kidney. After the bar received a kidney donation from a friend, it was clear to him that he would do everything possible to find a donor for Pinchas. He managed to find a donor, but at the height of the preparations, Pinchas died.

A decade later, in an interview for the "Shabbat" Supplement in 2018, Rabbi Haber said it was his wake-up call to save lives. "After this case, I was forced to save as many people as possible," he said at the time. "Saint Baruch created two kidneys, which provide him with 400 percent kidney function, four times more than he needs. If you take one kidney, he still has twice as much as he needs. It has been shown that healthy people can live with the same quality of life and health. With one kidney. "

Rabbi Haber's interview and article on "Shabbat":

- Rabbi Haber in a 2018 interview

- Heroes of the Decade: Rabbi Bar in a special column in 2019

In an article he wrote to Shabbat magazine in December 2019, about his definition of one of the decade's heroes of Israel Today, Rabbi Barr said that "the greatest gift a person can give is life. God created two kidneys, which provide him with 400 percent of kidney function, Four times more than it needs. If you take one kidney, it still has twice as much as it should. "

"I am asked news this morning to explain this phenomenon, and for me the explanation is very simple: We have a very, very special people, with people like no other in the world. Rare and good people are growing in the Land of Israel. All I did was actually make these wonderful people accessible to the altruistic kidney donation, To them what it means is to clarify how dangerous it is to their donor, and to care for donors and their families for all their needs that arise from the donation.I am very much willing to help people who need the kidney donation and believe in the matter wholeheartedly, as someone who has experienced the dialysis experience, and those who love their burning love. "I manage to catch the people of my people with the same flame fire," he wrote L in the bar.