Winter 2026

In 2020, Dr. Ron Wolfson faced an excruciating dilemma: His wife’s kidneys were failing and she needed a transplant or regular dialysis. But Ron wasn’t a match.

And the chances of finding one didn’t look promising. Very few people needing new kidneys are that lucky: just 6,400 a year. The remainder are added to the 93,000 people on the 7-to-10-year waiting list for kidneys from cadavers.

Then Wolfson, a prominent Jewish educator, discovered an innovative alternative: paired kidney exchange, or kidney swapping. By donating one of his kidneys, he made Susie eligible for a donation from someone who was a match for her but not for his or her own loved one.

The experience lit the spark for Wolfson to create the faith-based “To Save One Life” campaign to encourage congregants of all religions to think beyond matched donations. After all, now that those needing transplants are no longer trapped by failure to find their own matches, they just need donors – individuals healthy enough to donate “on their behalf” – and can get kidneys in a matter of months.

Wolfson will discuss his new book, To Save One Life, about his and his wife’s experiences, written with Dr. Mikel Prieto, kidney surgeon at the Mayo Clinic. The two will discuss the book, kidney swapping and the gift of life in conversation with Mo Glazman, Temple Emanu-El’s Senior Cantor, who himself donated a kidney to his mother.