Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Back to Opinion

Ayelet’s Legacy

Just over six months have gone by since little Ayelet Galena passed away, following a bone marrow transplant. The toddler’s struggle with a rare disease drew an outpouring of sympathy and support online. And Ayelet’s short life continues to have an impact.

The effort of her parents, Seth and Hindy Poupko Galena, modern Orthodox Jews who live in Manhattan, to find Ayelet a match went viral on their blog, Eye on Ayelet. Although many of the 14,000 online followers in the “Ayelet Nation” praying for her refue shleyme felt connected through Judaism, the story of the little girl’s struggle has reached far beyond faith.

Ayelet’s mother met with President Barack Obama at the White House in June. He told her to, ‘Stay strong, keep going.’”

“We’ve witnessed the best of our community,” said Hindy Galena.

Her legacy?

As of early August:

•$329,150 had been donated through the Gift of Life registry, some of which sponsored 4,421 would-be bone marrow donors.

•42 people were found as bone marrow matches.

• 5 transplants have taken place.

•An anonymous donor created a playground for underserved children in Israel, with the wish that Ayelet’s spirit “continue to transform our lives.”

•A group led by Jeff and Dorit Dahan donated a playroom for the Ronald McDonald house in New Haven, Conn. Dorit wrote: “I, like so many, just felt like we had to do something.”

• A toy drive in Ayelet’s memory was scheduled in August for Staten Island University Hospital.

•Forests of trees were planted in her honor in Israel, through donations to the Jewish National Fund.

• Several people who lost children told the Galenas that they were finally able to mourn, through Ayelet’s fight.

For the Eye on Ayelet website, www.ayeletgalena.tumblr.com

Contact Blair Thornburgh at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.