{"id":6232,"date":"2021-11-23T11:57:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T16:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=6232"},"modified":"2021-11-30T13:57:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:57:21","slug":"he-gave-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/he-gave-light\/","title":{"rendered":"HE GAVE LIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A stem cell transplant miracle speaks at his Bar Mitzvah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There he was, speaking with enthusiasm, with confidence in front of several hundred people. A newly minted adult Jew in his pristine Bar Mitzvah clothing, chosen with such care for this very special occasion. Flanked by his father and grandfather, he was too involved to notice the tears in their eyes as they remembered. Scenes from his babyhood flashed through their minds and   enhanced the significance of this momentous evening a thousand fold. His father thought of the day he was born when he first heard the shouts, \u201cIt\u2019s a boy! It\u2019s a boy!\u201d His joy was boundless. Avichai\u2019s grandfather recalled how he would stop by the house every day on his way to work just to see Avichai. \u201cHe\u2019s my pal. He makes my day!\u201d And they recalled the day their world fell apart.<\/a>  When their precious Avichai was diagnosed with leukemia. The baby\u2019s uncle was Dr. Jerry Stein, the director of the Bone Marrow Unit at Schneiders, a major hospital in Israel. His professional knowledge did not allow for any rosy dreams. He knew that 50% of these patients die. \u201cMy heart fell out of my chest when I heard the news!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will a stem cell transplant donor be found?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only hope was Ezer Mizion\u2019s International Bone Marrow Registry, the largest Jewish registry worldwide. A stem cell transplant was needed to save this young life. Genetic matching between donor and recipient is vital for success. <\/a>A search was performed. The computer raced through hundreds of thousands of names. The staff held their collective breath. The family sat glued to the phone immersed in the timeless words of Tehillim (Psalms). Would the response be the ominous words: No Match Found<\/em>, a virtual death sentence? Or would there miraculously be a genetic match? From the millions of Jews that inhabit the earth, would there exist a near perfect DNA match? Would he be among those registered in the Registry? A click, a bing. A sound barely heard in the busy office. The computer had stopped at a file. His name was Ziv. His parents had named him Ziv which means light, because he had brought light into their world. And now he was about to do the same for Avichai\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Avichai after his Stem Cell Transplant with Ziv, the Donor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould you be willing to donate to save a little boy\u2019s life?\u201d he was asked. The question hardly made any sense to him. \u201cWhat is the question? Of course, I would donate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later, the two families met. The little boy, now a healthy, mischievous two-year-old, handed Ziv a present, a Chanukah menorah, a candelabrum of light, and gave his new friend a hug. The atmosphere was electric with unspoken words. Avichai would live!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avichai Thanks Ezer Mizion for Finding a Stem Cell Donor for him<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His family rubbed their eyes. The audience of hundreds were listening intently. Many knew his story<\/a>. Was this a dream? No, it is real. Avichai has become a man. A Bar Mitzvah bochur (young man). He would grow and mature. He would marry and raise a family who would, in turn, raise their own families\u2026 generations\u2026eternity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bar Mitzvah Celebration with Avichai Dancing with Ziv who Made Possible the Life-Saving Stem Cell Transplant <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There he was, speaking with enthusiasm, with confidence in front of several hundred people. A newly minted adult Jew in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[10,914,741,756,762,9,37,23,36,896,1251,922,193,11],"class_list":["post-6232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bone-marrow-registry","tag-bone-marrow","tag-bone-marrow-donor","tag-bone-marrow-registry","tag-bone-marrow-transplant","tag-genetic-match","tag-jewish","tag-leukemia","tag-registry","tag-stem-cell","tag-stem-cell-donation","tag-stem-cell-matches","tag-stem-cell-transplant","tag-stem-cells","tag-transplant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6232"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6281,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6232\/revisions\/6281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}