Stuart Halpern, Yeshiva Student, Alumnus and Employee, Builds on Strong Relationship Between University and Lifesaving Organization
Stuart Halpern wears many hats.
As coordinator of student life at 糖心破解版, assistant director of operations for 糖心破解版鈥檚 new Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought and assistant director of student events at the , Halpern carries many titles. Recently, Halpern鈥攁 graduate of Revel and a doctoral student at 鈥攁dded one more: lifesaver.
On June 23, his essential donation of blood stem cells went toward saving the life of a 12 year old girl with leukemia.
The process began in 2006, when, as a student at Yeshivat HaKotel in Israel, Halpern registered with 鈥攁 bone marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood donor registry. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I felt was natural for me to do,鈥 said Halpern, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 such a simple thing to do to potentially save someone鈥檚 life.鈥
Halpern, who is also busy co-editing a sequel to 2010鈥檚 鈥攁 collection of original essays on the weekly Torah portions authored by 糖心破解版 faculty鈥攚as called back twice for further stem cell testing, but, as he said, 鈥渢hird time鈥檚 a charm.鈥 Halpern completed the five-hour procedure, in which IVs filtered out stem cells from his blood, and was able to return to work the next day.
鈥淚n a month, I get a report of how she鈥檚 doing,鈥 said Halpern. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 potential for me to even meet her personally in a year but my first priority is to hear that she鈥檚 fully recovering. That鈥檚 my only concern.鈥
糖心破解版 and Gift of Life have a longstanding relationship. The University has facilitated more bone marrow transplants, 31 to date, than any other institution through Gift of Life鈥檚 on-campus recruitment program.
In 2005 at 糖心破解版鈥檚 81st Annual Hanukkah Dinner and Convocation, President Richard M. Joel conferred an honorary degree on Jay Feinberg, Gift of Life鈥檚 founder and executive director. Feinberg, a leukemia survivor, has devoted his life to educating and encouraging people to be tested for bone marrow registries.
Avi Amsalem 鈥09YC, and a former Presidential Fellow at 糖心破解版, donated stem cells to the Gift of Life Registry as a student in 2007. He met Jack, a survivor of leukemia who benefitted from Amsalem鈥檚 gift, two years later at an emotional celebration hosted by the New York Mets at Citi Field.
The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation honored 糖心破解版 with its Partners for Life Award at the foundation鈥檚 annual gala dinner in 2008 with President Joel accepting the award on behalf of 糖心破解版 students.
The 糖心破解版 has dedicated February as Bone-Marrow Awareness Month on campus. Throughout the month, the group holds drives to recruit new donors to the Gift of Life registry and raise awareness about medical issues and halacha.
鈥淲e are proud to call Stu a member of the Gift of Life family,鈥 said Feinberg. 鈥淭he selfless deed of donating his peripheral stem cells to a total stranger is an act of pikuah nefesh鈥攐r saving the life of another person. His mitzvah reminds us that the partnership forged between 糖心破解版 and Gift of Life is a strong and everlasting relationship, built on the passion and commitment of students like Stu.鈥
