For patients & families
When a family faces serious illness, hospitalization, or a difficult medical decision, no one should have to navigate it alone. This directory gathers Jewish organizations that offer halachic guidance, medical referrals, disease-specific support, hospital hospitality, and practical family care — most of them free of charge.
These organizations are independent and are not operated by or formally affiliated with JMAR or the Jewish Physicians Network. We list them for educational and informational purposes. Coverage areas vary — some serve one city or hospital, others operate nationally or in Israel — so confirm scope and availability directly with each organization.
In an emergency, call your local emergency number (911 in the U.S.) or your community Hatzalah.
Halachic guidance for medical and end-of-life decisions
When a diagnosis, treatment choice, or end-of-life question turns on Jewish law, these organizations connect families with rabbinic authorities who understand the medicine and can advocate in real time.
Ematai — Helps individuals and families navigate aging, serious illness, and end-of-life care through Jewish wisdom and halacha. Offers a Medical Halacha Helpline, advance-care-planning tools, chaplaincy, and clear guides on pain management, DNR/DNI, artificial nutrition, hospice, and organ donation.
Chayim Aruchim — Provides halachic and medical guidance plus hands-on advocacy for families facing end-of-life decisions, working directly with doctors and hospitals on resuscitation, feeding tubes, ventilators, and hospice. 24-hour hotline: 718-278-2446 (718-ARUCHIM); Sephardic hotline: 347-578-8200.
Medical referrals, second opinions, and patient advocacy
Refuah Resources — A nonprofit medical-referral agency offering free referrals, research, advocacy, and support to patients facing serious or complex illness, helping families reach the right specialists and understand their options. Phone: 718-437-7474.
ROFEH International — Founded by the Bostoner Rebbe, ROFEH provides free expert medical referrals to Boston's leading hospitals along with guest accommodations, kosher meals, transportation, and respite care for patients traveling for treatment.
Beineinu — A clearinghouse and searchable directory connecting patients with medical-referral organizations, specialists, peer support groups by condition, and bikur cholim services worldwide — a useful starting point when you are not sure where to turn.
Cancer support
Rofeh Cholim Cancer Society (RCCS) — Helps cancer patients secure and maintain health insurance, subsidizes premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and provides medical referrals and advocacy for the patient and family. Serves patients across the U.S.
Sharsheret — A national nonprofit providing personalized support, education, and community for Jewish women and families facing breast and ovarian cancer, including peer support, genetic-risk resources, and financial assistance.
Children and families facing serious illness
Chai Lifeline — An international organization supporting children with serious illness and their families, entirely free of charge: hospital services, counseling, crisis intervention, meals, transportation, financial help, and Camp Simcha. Headquarters: 212-465-1300.
Jewish Caring Network — A Baltimore-based nonprofit providing free support to families facing life-threatening and serious illness — respite care, housecleaning, meals, medical supplies, assistance funds, and the Tikva House for lodging near care — while protecting privacy and dignity.
Chaim of CH — A Crown Heights community health organization bringing healthcare support into the home, including help for families navigating complex medical conditions and peripartum or postpartum needs.
Camp Simcha (UK) — The United Kingdom's charity supporting Jewish families with a seriously ill child, providing practical and emotional support across more than 50 conditions.
Chai Lifeline also operates international affiliates in Israel, Canada, and Belgium.
Fertility, pregnancy, and reproductive health
Bonei Olam — Provides financial assistance and guidance for Jewish couples facing infertility, funding fertility treatments and medical procedures through chapters around the world.
ATIME — Offers advocacy, education, guidance, research, and support to individuals and couples navigating infertility, reproductive health, and pregnancy loss.
PUAH Institute — An international organization bridging fertility treatment and Jewish law, offering counseling, halachic guidance, and lab supervision to guide couples through the fertility process. Israel-based, serving communities worldwide.
Genetic screening
Dor Yeshorim — Confidential premarital genetic screening for recessive conditions common in Jewish populations, using an anonymous compatibility system.
JScreen — At-home saliva-based carrier and cancer-risk genetic screening with genetic-counselor support, for individuals and couples of all backgrounds.
Organ, kidney, and marrow donation
Renewal — Facilitates living kidney donation within the Jewish community, guiding and supporting both kidney patients and donors through the entire transplant process.
Gift of Life Marrow Registry — A blood stem-cell and bone-marrow registry that helps cure blood cancers and immune disorders through donor matching.
Halachic Organ Donor Society (HODS) — Educates on the halachic and medical questions around organ donation and offers a donor card that lets members choose donation criteria consistent with their halachic view.
Mental and emotional health
Relief Resources — Provides mental-health guidance and referrals for the Jewish community, matching individuals and families to vetted providers by specialty, location, technique, and insurance.
Amudim — A confidential resource center offering crisis intervention, case management, and referrals for individuals and families affected by addiction, abuse, mental-health struggles, and other crises.
Ohel — A broad Jewish social-services agency providing mental-health care, foster care, crisis support, and services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Special needs and disability inclusion
Support, programming, and inclusion for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Yachad / NJCD — The Orthodox Union's inclusion organization for Jews with disabilities, offering social, educational, recreational, and vocational programs alongside family support and resources.
Friendship Circle — Pairs teen volunteers with children and adults with special needs for friendship and inclusion, with 80+ chapters worldwide and support for their families.
Kosher food, hospital hospitality, lodging, and transportation
Practical help that lets a family stay close to a hospitalized loved one — kosher meals, a place to rest, Shabbos accommodations within walking distance, and rides to and from care.
Chesed 24/7 — Free kosher hospital meals, hospitality rooms and apartments, Shabbos-in-a-Box kits, equipment loans, hospital liaisons, and transportation across dozens of hospitals in New York and New Jersey. 24-hour line: 845-354-3233.
Chesed of Williamsburg — Free non-emergency transportation to and from hospitals and clinics, plus an online and printed Kosher Hospital Guide covering kosher food, Bikur Cholim rooms, chaplaincy, and Shabbos apartments across the tri-state area. Dispatch: 718-218-9000.
The Haven (New Haven, CT) — A bikur cholim center near Yale New Haven's hospitals with lodging, kosher food pantries, meals, Shabbos accommodations within walking distance, and a shul on site. Phone: 203-902-1800.
New Haven Torah Center — Community Resources — Local resources for families at Yale New Haven Hospital: a Bikur Cholim pantry, the Friendship House at Yale, kosher food and eruv information, mikvah, and Chevra Kadisha contacts.
Chicago Mitzvah Campaign — Free kosher guest meals delivered to patients' visitors, hospitality suites, and in-hospital patient services across the Chicago area.
Bikur Cholim of Cleveland — Kosher hospital lounges, meals, lodging, and patient and family support in the Cleveland area.
Bikur Cholim — Los Angeles — The West Coast's leading Jewish healthcare nonprofit, providing medical guidance, financial support, kosher food, lodging, and community services to patients and families. Phone: 323-852-1900.
Lev Rochel Bikur Cholim (Lakewood) — Daily-restocked food pantries and Shabbos accommodations for patients' families near Monmouth-area hospitals, plus a range of patient support services.
Satmar Bikur Cholim (New York) — Delivers thousands of kosher meals weekly to Jewish patients across New York hospitals, with bedside visiting and family support. Phone: 718-854-2500.
Most communities have a local Bikur Cholim. To find one near a specific hospital, use the Chesed Kosher Hospital Guide, Beineinu, or ChesedSpot.
Support in Israel
Ezer Mizion — A broad Israeli health-support organization providing cancer support, home and family services, and the world's largest Jewish bone-marrow donor registry.
Yad Sarah — Israel's largest volunteer organization, best known for free medical-equipment loans, plus home care, transportation, and support services for the ill, elderly, and disabled.
Zichron Menachem — Supports children with cancer and their families in Israel with recreation and respite programs, support groups, and practical assistance.
Ezra LeMarpeh — Founded by Rabbi Elimelech Firer, one of Israel's most trusted medical-referral services, also lending medical equipment and running rehabilitation and children's-illness programs.
See also PUAH above, which is Israel-based and serves families internationally.
Bereavement, burial, and chevra kadisha
Support for families around death, burial, and mourning in accordance with halacha. A chevra kadisha is a Jewish burial society that prepares the deceased for burial (taharah) and keeps vigil (shmira).
NASCK — National Association of Chevra Kadisha — A searchable directory of Orthodox chevros kadisha across North America, plus guidance on a halachic living will and on death, burial, and mourning, and 24-hour assistance. The fastest way to find the right local burial society.
Misaskim — 24/7 assistance at the time of death: coordination with hospitals and authorities, care of the deceased, vigil (shmira), and support for mourners, including shiva needs.
Chesed Shel Emes — Recovery and dignified preparation of remains, including in traumatic or complex deaths.
Hebrew Free Burial Association — Traditional Jewish burial at no cost for those without family or means in the New York area.
A note for patients and families
This directory is informational and does not constitute medical, legal, mental-health, or halachic advice. In an urgent medical situation, contact emergency services or your medical team. For specific halachic questions, consult a rabbinic authority familiar with the details of the case — several of the organizations above can help connect you with one.
Suggest a resource
Know a reliable organization, hotline, or patient-support service that belongs here? This directory is growing, and we welcome recommendations.