"Zell Kravinsky is an investment broker who for years has been giving away his money-$45 million at last count. He made news in 2003 by donating a kidney to a woman he had not known. That was also the moment the Kravinsky family began saying that his altruism bordered on the obsessive. A New York Times reporter wrote that talking to him was "unsettling"-especially when Kravinsky said he'd gladly give his other kidney to a person whose life seemed more valuable than Kravinsky's own."
"Friends confessed that his gesture made them feel guilty. "I don't think I'm a bad person," Kravinsky's longtime friend Barry Katz told the reporter. "I give money to charity and I think I'm fairly generous, but when I look at what he's done, I can't help but notice a little voice in the back of my head saying, "What have you done lately? Why haven't you saved someone's life?"""
"These questions show up with special intensity during holiday time, when the very air seems to vibrate with invitations to max out your credit cards on gifts, and when your desire to buy for friends all the stuff you're too sensible to buy for yourself wars with the uneasy feeling that the money you're spending could feed dozens of children for a year."
Zell Kravinsky gave away about $45 million and donated a kidney to a stranger, actions that prompted family concern and media unease about excessive altruism. Conversations about his willingness to give even more—potentially at personal cost—produced guilt among friends and worry from his wife about obligations to their children. The situation highlights tensions between personal responsibility and extreme philanthropy, the social pressure such acts can create, and the moral questions individuals face about how much to give, where generosity becomes compulsive, and how to balance giving with practical needs, especially during gift-focused seasons.
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