Rabbi Jay Litvin, 60; Chernobyl Aid Group’s Liaison
Rabbi Jay Litvin, 60, a leader of the rescue organization Children of Chernobyl, died Thursday in Jerusalem of cancer.
The Chicago-born Litvin became a devout Jew at the age of 37 and immigrated to Israel in 1993.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. April 23, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday April 23, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 60 words Type of Material: Correction
Litvin obituary -- The obituary in Monday’s California section of Rabbi Jay Litvin, a leader of the rescue organization Children of Chernobyl, said the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine initially killed about 4,400 people. By most accounts, 31 people died immediately, but thousands of deaths since then have been blamed on effects of the accident.
Long involved in Chabad, the Orthodox Jewish movement that founded Children of Chernobyl, he became the aid group’s medical liaison.
Although he had no medical background, Litvin became an expert on cancer through his work with the children affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.
He made dozens of visits to the region, coordinating airlifts of ailing children to foreign countries for medical treatment.
The Chernobyl accident initially killed about 4,400 people. But more than 2 million others were later hospitalized with related illnesses, among them 473,400 children.
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