Bnei Menashe man’s organs save lives
Hezron Tauteng, a member of the Bnei Menashe community, immigrated from India with his family with the help of Shavei Israel in 2015. They settled in Kiryat Shemona, in Israel’s north. This past Shavuot he passed away after a cardiac event. He was the first from his community to donate organs after passing. A relative of his said, “Rabbis ruled that in the case of brain death, organ donation is a great mitzvah [good deed].”
Hezron Tauteng, 39, who died of a heart attack on Shavuot, was the first of the Bnei Menashe community to have his organs donated.
He immigrated in 2015 to Kiryat Shemona with his wife Ruth and their three children. At the beginning of the war, the Tautheng family, like most of the city’s residents, were evacuated to a hotel in Tiberias for their safety. In order to provide for his family, Tautheng continued to work at the Simat factory in the city during the week, and on weekends and holidays he came to the hotel in Tiberias.
On Shavuot, he had a heart attack while traveling, and after a few days in intensive care, the doctors unfortunately pronounced him dead. Courageously, for the first time in the Bnei Menashe community, and out of love for her husband and belief that this is what he would have wanted, his widow approved the donation of his organs. He was buried in Tiberias, and not in the evacuated Kiryat Shemona that he loved so much. His widow did not want to endanger the lives of the mourners who would come to the funeral.
He was a taxi driver in India, so he apparently managed, thanks to great skill, not to cause an accident during the heartbreaking event, but steered his car to the side of the road near Tiberias. It was found only after a critical period of time. Due to the predicament he found himself in, he was unable to contact any of his family members or call for help, and only the vigilance of a female driver led to his discovery. When he was found, he was in a state of cerebral edema. CPR at Ziv Hospital was unsuccessful, and Taotheng entered a state of brain death.
After his condition became clear, the transplant coordinator asked a family member to explain to his wife about organ donation and its meaning. The thought of donating his organs was difficult, and even from a halachic [Jewish law] point of view it wasn’t clear what was right. But after consultation with rabbis, it was determined that in case of brain death, organ donation is in fact a mitzvah.
Tautheng’s two kidneys, liver, corneas and skin were donated. It turned out that he was able to save lives which provided at least some solace to his mourning family.
Photo of Bnei Menashe aliyah in 2015