Provide the Financial Support Needed to Allow for Matan’s Dignified End to His Life Journey.
It is very hard to write this.
In February, our beloved son and brother, Matan, was diagnosed with cancer. He has been seeking all reasonable avenues of treatment, including participating in a clinical trial, but in conversations with his doctors he has determined that it is time to switch to end-of-life care. *Ifyou don’t know him, learn more at the bottom.
Our focus now is simple and urgent: to allow us to care for Matan with dignity and with chesed (lovingkindness), and, if at all possible, to honor his wish to spend his final days surrounded by the people who love him. He is hoping that his life and his quality of life can be extended by being comfortable and receiving the best possible care and experiences, ideally at home.
Matan is currently in the hospital at City of Hope, and we are still learning what will be possible. It is his fervent hope that he can be discharged to home hospice, or hospice closer to home. This will require extensive further support than what he has received in the past.
Matan’s care is not just “personal care,” but a full team supporting every aspect of daily life and medical needs on his behalf—from basic tasks like meals, paying bills, and communication, to highly skilled, hands-on care like mobility, hygiene, and clinical support, often requiring multiple trained professionals at once. For example, when he is unable to administer even his oral medications himself, only licensed medical professionals are legally permitted to do so, and this adds a lot of expense.
As we determine the full daily cost of that care, we are setting an initial goal to help us meet this moment. We hope that this amount will be sufficient to support his growing bills, medical needs for comfort care, in-home caregiving, if needed, a secure and dignified skilled nursing facility, as well as end-of-life and funeral expenses. This will include an eventual funeral in Los Angeles and burial in Connecticut in the Jewish Cemetery his father built.
If necessary we will adjust the goal, and should we raise more than our family needs to cover Matan’s medical and end of life needs, we will donate it to a well-vetted tzedakah (charity) to provide hospice care help others in a similar emergency situation. We are working with Matan now to determine and vet where he would like any tzedakah funds directed and will share as soon as possible.
Many of you know Matan from different parts of his life. From New Milford, Eisner Camp and NFTY, DreamStreet at Jacobs Camp, from Yale and Harvard, from Hillel, and from his work at Procter & Gamble, Kramer Levin, RespectAbility, and the City of Los Angeles, from Ikar, and so many other places where you became a part of his life. But more than any place, people know him for how he shows up.
Matan has lived his life with cerebral palsy, but he has never let it define him. He meets the world with strength, humor, and a steady optimism. He teaches, listens, and shows up for others with deep care. He is not a rabbi, but for many he is your “rebbe.” He is never afraid to say what he thinks–always with candor and complete honesty, and shaped entirely by love and conviction. What defines him most is the love he shows for the people in his life, and the way he turns friends into family, again and again. That is what we want to reflect back to him now.
Matan loves your messages and notes. Please know that he may not always be able to receive or respond to them in a timely way right now but is working to do so. For updates, we ask that you check CaringBridge, where we will share information as we are able, and where you can also leave messages for him and for our family.
We hope that very, very soon he will be resting in a place where he can receive visitors more easily, and the family will communicate any updates about that on CaringBridge as well.
We do not want to be asking for help in this moment. But providing the care Matan needs, and preparing to honor his life across two coasts, creates a financial burden we cannot carry alone.
If you are able to give financially, we are deeply grateful.
If you are not, please know that your love, your prayers, and your presence are truly the greatest gifts.
With love and gratitude,
His mother and siblings, Rosalyn, Shira & Jason, Yonatan, Adina, and Aytan
*Matan is a disability rights leader, lawyer, and deeply thoughtful presence in Jewish life, living with cerebral palsy and a lifelong commitment to dignity and inclusion. From entering Yale University at 16 to graduating from Harvard Law School and serving in national policy roles, including an appointment by President Barack Obama and now Director of the Disability Access Services Division (DASD) and ADA Compliance Officer for the City of Los Angeles, his accomplishments are remarkable. But what people carry most is how he shows up, with wisdom rooted in Jewish teaching, steady compassion, and a way of helping others find meaning even in hard moments.