An Israeli charity that has helped save thousands of lives thought it was about to celebrate a joyful milestone. Instead, it ran into a closed door.
According to multiple Hebrew media reports, Guinness World Records has informed Israeli organizations that it is no longer accepting submissions from Israel or the Palestinian territories.
The policy came to light when the nonprofit Matnat Chaim (“Gift of Life”) contacted Guinness about a historic event: gathering 2,000 living kidney donors in one place in Jerusalem for a group photo and official recognition.
These are not funders or supporters.
They are men and women who each gave away a kidney to save a stranger’s life.
Matnat Chaim hoped the event could be documented as a world record.
Instead, they were told their application would not even be processed.
“Israel is leading the whole world in this wonderful revolution of mutual responsibility in altruistic kidney donations. The fact that Guinness refuses to include the Israeli achievement that astonished the entire medical world is unacceptable.”
— Rachel Heber, president of Matnat Chaim
Guinness has not yet issued a detailed public explanation. Reports say the organization is suspending all new submissions from Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, without distinction.
Who Is Matnat Chaim?
Matnat Chaim is not a political organization. It is a faith-rooted Israeli nonprofit founded in 2009 by Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Heber and his wife, Rachel Heber, after he personally underwent a kidney transplant and saw how many people were dying while waiting for donors. kilya.org.il+2The Times of Israel+2
Since then, the charity has:
Facilitated more than 1,300 living kidney donations between 2013 and 2022 alone.
Helped Israel become the world leader per capita in altruistic, non-directed kidney donation.
Been praised in medical journals as a “major force” in ethical live donor transplants.
Most donors are ordinary Israelis, many of them religious Jews, motivated by biblical values such as pikuach nefesh (saving a life), tikkun olam (repairing the world), and chesed (loving-kindness).
In 2023, Rachel Heber received the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement for her role in this work.
This is the achievement Guinness has declined even to consider.
A Record Worth Celebrating
Matnat Chaim’s planned event in Jerusalem is not about ego. It is a celebration of a quiet revolution: thousands of people willing to undergo surgery so that someone else can live.
Gathering 2,000 of these donors in one room is a visual testimony to:
The sanctity of life.
The power of community.
The beauty of Israel’s culture of giving.
It also tells a powerful story to the world:
In an age of division and hate, here is a country turning sacrificial love into public health.
That is precisely the kind of story Guinness World Records was created to highlight.
Instead, the charity was reportedly told that all submissions from Israel and the Palestinian territories are suspended—no matter the category, no matter the purpose.
What This Says About Israel — and About Us
For Christian Women For Israel, this story cuts in two directions.
On one side, it shows Israel at her best:
A small nation turning faith into life-saving action.
Religious Jews embodying Judeo-Christian values: sacrifice, compassion, and responsibility for one another.
An Israeli nonprofit quietly inspiring the medical world with an ethical model that could be copied in many countries.
On the other side, it reveals how easily even noble achievements from Israel can be:
Ignored.
Devalued.
Or quietly shut out in the current climate.
When a global brand that celebrates human achievement refuses even to review an Israeli submission about saving lives, it sends a message that goes far beyond one event.
It tells Israelis, and the Jewish people more broadly, that their goodness doesn’t count in the same way.
As believers who love Israel and the Jewish people, we cannot afford to be numb to that.
How We Can Respond
We may not control Guinness, but we can control our response.
We can:
Honor stories like this in our own circles — retelling what Matnat Chaim and Israel’s donors are doing.
Pray for encouragement for Rachel Heber, the donors, and every family touched by this work.
Support organizations that reflect Judeo-Christian values in the Land of Israel.
Push back against one-sided narratives that only show Israel through the lens of conflict, never compassion.
“I will bless those who bless you…”
— Genesis 12:3
When a nation leads the world in freely giving kidneys to strangers, that is not just a medical statistic. It is a spiritual signpost of the values we cherish.
Even if Guinness closes its book, we can decide that stories like these will not be erased.
Stand with Israel as a Modern-Day Esther
When you give to Christian Women For Israel, you help comfort God’s people, push back rising antisemitism, and raise up modern-day Esthers who pray, teach, and act “for such a time as this.”
Your generosity today strengthens this work in Israel and around the world.
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