[Photos below] A major life-saving initiative at Yeshivas Ponevezh in Bnei Brak resulted this week in more than 1,000 new bone marrow samples being added to Ezer Mizion’s national donor registry. The large-scale campaign drew widespread attention throughout the yeshiva world, combining an extraordinary effort to help save lives with meticulous care to ensure that the yeshiva’s learning schedule remained uninterrupted.

The ambitious undertaking did not materialize overnight. It was preceded by weeks of detailed planning, logistical coordination, and educational efforts. During the lead-up to the campaign, yeshiva students participated in informational sessions explaining the significance of bone marrow matching, the simplicity of the testing process—which requires only a saliva sample—and the potentially life-saving impact it can have for patients battling cancer and other serious illnesses.

Students also raised numerous halachic and medical questions, seeking guidance from the yeshiva’s leadership. Roshei yeshiva gave the matter serious consideration and emphasized the tremendous importance of participating, describing it as a clear obligation of saving lives and an opportunity to perform one of the greatest possible acts of kindness.

Earlier in the week, a special letter signed by Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch was publicized, urging talmidim to take part in this vital effort of pikuach nefesh. Ponevezh Rosh Yeshiva Rav Chaim Peretz Berman stressed the importance of the initiative by personally adding a handwritten note to the letter, declaring that participation in the campaign and expansion of the donor registry was a “complete obligation.”

That unusually emphatic endorsement generated significant excitement among the student body and helped drive the overwhelming response.

To accommodate the anticipated turnout while ensuring that learning would not be disrupted, organizers erected special tents and testing stations throughout the yeshiva campus. As a result, each sample was collected in just a matter of seconds, allowing participants to return immediately to their shtenders and Gemaras without creating long lines or causing bitul Torah.

Organizers noted that the current campaign continues a longstanding tradition of life-saving efforts within the yeshiva. To date, no fewer than 15 Ponevezh talmidim have been identified as full matches and have gone on to donate bone marrow, directly saving the lives of patients in Israel and around the world.

At the conclusion of the campaign, organizers expressed satisfaction with the addition of more than 1,000 new samples to the registry, significantly increasing the likelihood of finding compatible donors for patients awaiting potentially life-saving transplants.

{Matzav.com}