our mission
Every organization has a mission statement. At Chayim Aruchim, we go beyond that.
It’s about ensuring that every Jewish patient receives care in alignment with Torah and halachah, that families are equipped with knowledge and resources, and that no one faces these challenges alone.
It’s about being there in real-time when life-altering decisions must be made. It’s about partnering with hospitals and healthcare professionals to ensure respect and understanding for halachic perspectives. And most of all, it’s about preserving dignity, respect, and life itself.
Our history
Chayim Aruchim was founded in 2010 to help Jewish patients and their families navigate critical and end-of-life medical decisions in accordance with Torah values. Over the years, it has grown into a trusted international resource, providing 24-hour Rabbinic guidance, advocacy, and support to families facing the most difficult moments of their lives.
We’re here to help seriously ill patients for whom a cure may no longer be probable, but where clinically appropriate treatments can preserve comfort, dignity, and life for years to come. Through careful advocacy and proper medical-halachic guidance, many such patients have gone on to live additional years with their illnesses, precious time that might otherwise have been lost.
The Rabbanim on the line
Rav of the machon
Rabbi Zvi Ausch
Yoshev Rosh Bais Horaa D'Karlsburg
Dayan
Rabbi Zishe Ausch
Dayan and Moreh Tzedek, Khal Avnei Eish of Volkan, and for matters of medicine and Halacha in Khal Yetev Lev
Menahel
Rabbi Benzion Leser
Rav at Maimonides Medical Center; Rabbi and Halachic Authority for Jewish Board; Dayan and Director at Chayim Aruchim
Rabbanim
Rabbi Eliezer Gewirtzman
Dayan Coventry Shul, Lakewood, NJ
Dayan in Bais Havaad, Lakewood, NJ
Fertility Posek for Gefen Poriah of Bais Medrash Govoha
Rabbi Naftali Katz
Marah D’asra Khal Raintree North in Lakewood
Rosh Chabura Kollel Bnei Torah
Rabbi Asher Millman
Rav of Khal Shaarei Avraham, Passaic, NJ
Rabbinic Advisor for Hatzolah of Passaic-Clifton
Rabbi Aron Wajsfeld
Rav, Boro Park Center
Rabbi Menachem Horowitz
Dayan, Boro ParkBoard
Rabbi Gedaliah Weinberger
Rivie Schwebel
Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz
Rabbi Ari Marburger
Zev Lefkowitz
Machon Hayim Aruchim Sephardic Division
Rabbi Raymond Beyda
Rabbi Raymond Haber
Rabbi Eliezer Harari
Dr. Albert Matalon
Rabbi Joseph Srour
Discharge and advocacy
Mrs. Leah Horowitz
Care Navigator
Project Director
Rabbi Berish FriedGeneral Counsel
Michael Korsinsky, Esq.Medical Advisory Board
Neil A. Halpern, MD, FCCM, FCCP, FACP
Chief Critical Care Medicine, Medical Director of Respiratory Therapy, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Yashar Hirshaut, MD
Mt Sinai Medical Center and Lenox Hill Medical Center
Yitzchak Kupfer, MD
Assistant Director, Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center
Howard Lebowitz, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Acute Care Health System’s (ACHS)
Bernard Lee, MD
Chief Medical Officer of MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care
Danny A Sherwinter, MD
Chief of Surgery, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, Associate Professor of Surgery Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai
Dr. Mark Sonneshein, MD
Maimonides Medical Center
Advisory
Committee
Rabbi Yaakov Weiner, Rosh Kollel, Jerusalem Center of Research
Mordechai Avigdor, Esq.
Dr. Marcel Biberfeld
Jacob Friedman
Dr. Yashar Hirshaut
Mark J. Kurzmann, Esq.
Dr. Barbara Olevitch
Avi Schron
Rabbi Yeruchem Silber
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel