They are on cloud nine. They are going to be parents! The months had passed by ever so slowly. And now the miracle called birth was imminent. They had plans. My, did they have plans! The songs they would sing to him, when they would teach him ‘Torah tzivah lanu’, the school they would send him to, how they would handle homework…But first on the agenda was the birth. A miracle they would share together.
In another Jewish home, a black cloud hovered above. A family member was ill. Death was imminent. They were going to be mourners. A tiny beam of light entered their home when the doctors said that a cure existed. But its light was dimmed. A stem cell transplant could save his life but success was contingent on finding a donor whose DNA matched. The family was tested. One after the other. The news was not good. Perhaps a match existed somewhere but how can he be found?
It was then that they were introduced to Ezer Mizion, the largest Jewish registry worldwide. The oncology clinic sent in a request. Then began the waiting. They had no plans. Only a minuscule sliver of hope. And if no match appeared on the horizon? The thought was too frightening to make plans. And so they sat. Jumping each time the phone rang. Falling back into a cloud of despair when it was only a telemarketer.
And suddenly the black cloud broke through and the sun shone! A match! Ezer Mizion found a match!
His name was Daniel Yehoshua. He was young. Married recently. Expecting their first baby. Preparations began immediately. Preparations for the patient. Preparations for the donor. Daniel Yehoshua would have to receive shots for several days to increase the stem cells in his body. Each day he was there on time, anxious to do his part in saving a life. Then one day he wasn’t. His wife, Halel, had gone into labor. Coordination became the name of the game! Accessing a hospital refrigerator for the shots. . Time and place for administering them. The hospital staff could not have been more accommodating.
The double miracle unfolded side by side. The day of the transplant arrived. And labor morphed into an emergency C-section. Thanks to the bravery of Halel, the birth to a new life occurred just as Daniel Yehoshua donated his cells to give life to another . Yes, they shared the experience but not in the way they had planned. The wife gave life to a new child, the husband to a person he had never met. Joy and thanksgiving in two families. Mazel Tov! Mazel Tov! A Double Mazel Tov!
