Matnat Chaim Marks 2,000 Kidney Donations With Guinness World Record Ceremony

About 1,200 living kidney donors gathered Sunday at Binyanei HaUma (International Convention Center) in Jerusalem for a ceremony marking more than 2,000 kidney donations in Israel to date and the setting of a Guinness World Record for the largest group of kidney donors photographed together.

The event, organized by the Matnat Chaim organization, highlighted Israel’s position as the world leader in living kidney donation per capita and spotlighted a volunteer-driven model that has saved thousands of lives.

Founded in 2009 by Rabbi Yeshayahu Heber z”l, Matnat Chaim has facilitated 2,030 living kidney transplants to date. The organization is now led by Rabbanit Rachel Heber, who continues her late husband’s mission of promoting voluntary kidney donation across Israeli society. “This is a historic milestone for the State of Israel and for Israeli medicine,” she said. “It is living proof of mutual responsibility and unconditional love.”

Shoshana Sherman, the organization’s CEO, said the goal remains ambitious. “Our dream is that Israel will become the first country in the world without a waiting list for kidney donations,” she said.

President Isaac Herzog attended the ceremony and devoted much of his remarks to praising the donors, whom he described as a moral example at a time of global confusion. “Each and every one of you embodies middat chassidut, (an ethic of moral selflessness)” Herzog said. “You are the people who chose to set aside personal risk for the certainty of saving another human life.”

Herzog addressed the controversy surrounding Guinness’ initial refusal to recognize the record. “Until just days ago, the Guinness Book of Records refused to recognize Israel’s world record,” he said. “Not because of the numbers, but because it was Israel.”

Herzog added that the donors present were “the decisive answer in the face of hypocrisy that sanctifies boycotts over life.” Expanding on the theme, he said the donors represented “the ability to be a moral lighthouse and a light unto nations, even when there are those who try to extinguish the light.” He said the commitment to the sanctity of life becomes even more significant “when the world around us loses its moral compass.”

Guinness World Records had initially rejected Matnat Chaim’s application, citing a temporary policy not to process submissions from Israel or the Palestinian territories. The decision was widely interpreted in Israel as a political boycott, particularly in the context of the war in Gaza. Following criticism, Guinness reversed its position, sent representatives to Jerusalem, and confirmed that the photograph qualifies as a world record and will appear in the 2027 edition of the Guinness Book.

The ceremony also included a brief human-interest moment reflecting the broader story. One of the donors present was Kobi Zemer-Tov, who donated a kidney through a cross-donation process to help save the life of his father-in-law, Tal. After testing revealed he was not a direct medical match, Matnat Chaim helped arrange a paired exchange. “You give more than you receive,” Zemer-Tov said. “What you get back is a sense of elevation that stays with you.”

In closing his remarks, Herzog referenced Israel’s broader national reality, offering prayers for Israeli soldiers, for those wounded in body and spirit, and calling for the return of Ran Gvili. He then returned to the donors themselves. “You prove to us day after day,” he said, “that the people of Israel choose life.”