Matnat Chaim

Matnat Chaim (Hebrew: מתנת חיים, "Gift of Life") is an Israeli non-profit organization (amuta) founded in 2009 by Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Haber of Jerusalem. Its mission is to encourage and facilitate living kidney donation from healthy, altruistic donors — people with no family or prior personal connection to the recipient — and to match them with patients suffering from end-stage kidney disease. The organization operates under medical and psychosocial supervision, with matching based first and foremost on tissue-typing compatibility. Since the 2008 Israeli Organ Transplantation Law, living kidney donations in Israel have grown steadily, and research conducted at Beilinson Hospital in 2013 attributed a significant part of that growth to a new group of donors — religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews who donated through Matnat Chaim for altruistic reasons, mostly without any prior acquaintance with the patient. This phenomenon is considered unique to Israel and has drawn international attention, including coverage in The New York Times. Matnat Chaim's work spans public awareness campaigns, informational materials for prospective donors and recipients, halachic (Jewish legal) guidance, legal and ethical advocacy, and support for dialysis patients and children. The organization maintains a website with sections on how to donate, how to search for a donor, donor and recipient rights, medical information, and personal stories. It reports having facilitated more than 2,000 kidney donations, a milestone celebrated in January 2026 with an event attended by Israel's president and public figures. In December 2025 the organization applied for a Guinness World Record for the largest number of altruistic kidney donations; Guinness initially declined, citing a policy against updating Israeli records, but reversed its decision after widespread criticism and allegations of antisemitism, and confirmed the world record. The organization also entered the Guinness Book of Records for gathering more than 1,000 kidney donors in a single photograph. Leadership passed from founder Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Haber, who died of COVID-19 in April 2020, to his wife, Rabbanit Rachel Haber, who had been appointed to manage the organization. Under her leadership the organization continued to grow, reaching 1,000 donations in April 2021, over 1,220 by April 2022, 1,500 by August 2023, and 2,000 by late 2025. Rachel Haber received the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement in 2023 for her work with the organization. Matnat Chaim is registered as a non-profit in Israel and is listed on the GuideStar Israel platform. It remains a private, non-profit entity without commercial ownership.

Matnat Chaim was founded in 2009 by Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Haber of Jerusalem. That same year, Rabbi Haber himself underwent a kidney transplant, receiving a kidney donated by a friend. The decision to establish the organization crystallized after he learned of the death of an 18-year-old kidney patient he had come to know during his own dialysis treatments prior to transplantation. The organization was established as a non-profit to encourage and facilitate altruistic living kidney donation — donations from healthy individuals with no family or prior personal connection to the recipient — and to match donors with patients in need, primarily according to tissue-typing compatibility and under medical and psychosocial supervision. Since the passage of Israel's Organ Transplantation Law in 2008, living kidney donations in Israel have grown steadily. A 2013 study conducted in the transplantation department at Beilinson Hospital attributed this growth in part to a new group of donors: religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews who donated through Matnat Chaim for altruistic reasons, mostly without prior acquaintance with the patient. This phenomenon is unique to Israel and has attracted international interest, including a 2014 New York Times article on the clash of religion and bioethics in organ donation in Israel. In 2014, Rabbi Haber received the President's Award for Volunteerism for his work. In May 2016, the Knesset held an appreciation event for Rabbi Haber and Matnat Chaim's kidney donors. In September 2017, as part of a police investigation into suspected criminal conduct in the organization's management and alleged violations of the Organ Transplantation Law, senior figures in the organization, including Rabbi Haber himself, were detained. At the conclusion of the investigation, no recommendations for indictment were filed against anyone in the organization, and in early September 2018 the State Attorney's Office decided to close the investigation file. In January 2019, a festive event marked the organization's tenth anniversary and 632 kidney donations facilitated through it. Participants included Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, ministers, and members of Knesset; funds were raised at the event to help the organization continue and expand its activities. In February 2020, Matnat Chaim reached 780 living kidney donations; the 780th donor was Knesset member Chili Tropper. In April 2020, Rabbi Yeshayahu Haber died of COVID-19, and his wife, Rachel Haber, was appointed to manage the organization in his place. In 2021, the academic center Ruppin awarded honorary fellowship to Rabbanit Rachel Haber, chairperson and founder of the organization, and to Matnat Chaim. On April 4, 2021, about a year after Rabbi Haber's death, Matnat Chaim reached 1,000 kidney donations. As part of a campaign marking this milestone, the organization published statistics on the profile of donors: 40% were teachers and educators; the gender split was one-third women and two-thirds men; and the leading local authority by percentage of donors was the Har Hevron Regional Council with 3.5 kidney donors per 1,000 residents. On April 28, 2022, two years after Rachel Haber was appointed CEO, the number of transplants stood at over 1,220 — two consecutive years in which 220 kidneys were donated each year. By August 2023, the number of donors stood at 1,500. In 2023, Rachel Haber was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement for the organization's activity. In December 2025, the organization submitted an application for a world record in the Guinness Book of Records for a record number of altruistic donations — 2,000. Guinness rejected the application because it refrained from updating Israeli records. After much criticism and allegations of antisemitism, Guinness reversed its position and confirmed the world record. In January 2026, Matnat Chaim marked the 2,000-donor milestone at a special event attended by the President of the State and other public figures. The organization also entered the Guinness Book of Records after gathering more than 1,000 kidney donors and donor-recipients in a single photograph.

• 2026

  Special event marks 2,000 donors, attended by Israel's president.

• 2025

  Application for Guinness World Record for 2,000 altruistic donations; initially rejected, then confirmed after criticism.

• 2023

  1,500 donors reached by August; Rachel Haber awarded Israel Prize for lifetime achievement.

• 2022

  Over 1,220 transplants reported by April 28.

• 2021

  1,000th kidney donation reached on April 4; Ruppin Academic Center awards honorary fellowship to Rachel Haber and Matnat Chaim.

• 2020

  Rabbi Haber dies of COVID-19; Rachel Haber appointed director. 780th donation reached in February.

• 2019

  Tenth anniversary event marks 632 kidney donations facilitated.

• 2018

  State Attorney's Office closes investigation file without indictments.

• 2017

  Police investigation into organization; senior figures including Rabbi Haber detained.

• 2016

  Knesset holds appreciation event for Rabbi Haber and Matnat Chaim donors.

• 2014

  Rabbi Haber receives the President's Award for Volunteerism.

• 2009

  Matnat Chaim founded by Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Haber in Jerusalem.

Non-profit organization promoting altruistic living kidney donation in Israel, operating under medical and psychosocial supervision and guided by Jewish law and ethics.

1. 1מתנת חיים - מתנדבים למען השתלת כליהkilya.org.il
2. 2Matnat Chaim - volunteers for kidney transplantationwikidata.org
3. 3מתנת חייםhe.wikipedia.org