Renewal
הִתְחַדְּשׁוּת
Hit-chad-shut
{transliteration}
Renewal, up close
Candles last 8 nights. Poverty lasts all year.
Help bring families in Israel back to steady ground.
All donations are
tax‑deductible
War doesn’t end when the sirens stop. Displaced families are still rebuilding. Reservists are still serving. Survivors still face long days alone. Children still go to bed hungry.
These are the places where the next chapter has to start, quietly, inside people’s daily lives
We call it:
Renewal
הִתְחַדְּשׁוּת
It shows up in the quiet stuff:
a fridge that hums again,
🎒 a backpack packed for school,
🍲 a Holocaust Survivor smiling over hot soup.
When you walk in to Meir Panim, no one starts with forms. There’s a seat. There’s food. Then we sort out the rest together — with you, with the city, with whoever it takes.
What is Hitchadshut?
Renewal
הִתְחַדְּשׁוּת
Hit-chad-shut
{transliteration}
from the Hebrew root ḥ‑d‑sh (“new/renew”)
means renewal, the process of becoming new again:
revival, refreshment, restoration.
Renewal
הִתְחַדְּשׁוּת
Hit-chad-shut
{transliteration}
Renewal, up close
A working fridge. A hot plate. A knock at the door.
Help bring families in Israel back to steady ground.
All donations are
tax‑deductible
personal renewal (renewal of strength), seasonal renewal (springtime renewal), communal/spiritual renewal, and urban/economic renewal (revitalizing neighborhoods).
“We left in a rush with two backpacks and the baby’s stroller. For weeks we lived out of bags. Meir Panim they didn’t start with questions, they started with food. A volunteer wrote down what we were missing—plates, a kettle, beds for the kids—and by the next day someone came with a small fridge and basic groceries. Finally, we could breathe again.”
Ortal S.
mother of 3, North
Mental health & renewal — the why
For many who fought, the battle didn’t end when the rockets stopped. Since October 7, Israel’s leading crisis hotlines and trauma clinics report called have tripled, and volunteers have answered over half a million calls. 35% of wounded soldiers are suffering from PTSD and other mental-health injuries, and about 64% are reservists, meaning the strain is felt deeply on the home front.
Social support is one of the strongest shields against trauma, lowering the risk of PTSD by up to 40% when people are held by a caring community instead of facing pain alone. At Meir Panim, that support lives in our community spaces, where people are known by name, welcomed, and never have to explain why they’re struggling.
What you made possible in 2025
100,000
displaced families
are still rebuilding their lives after devastating loss.
2.8 M
Israelis
living in poverty, struggling to pay for milk and bread
1.2 M
children
going to bed hungry each night.
125,000
holiday pantry boxes
distributed EVERY holiday
1,500
IDF soldiers fed daily
and 110,000 soldiers supported through uplifting events.
500,000+
Essential care packages
delivered to IDF soldiers and displaced families.
2.6 million
Meals to Israelis in need
including daily meals for 2,000 displaced families and 2,200 Holocaust Survivors.
25,000
Sets of gear for IDF Soldiers
including bulletproof vests, first-aid kits, and helmets.
500
Windows, mothers & wives of IDF soldiers
were supported through special events to help them heal and find joy.
500
Renovated homes
for poverty-stricken families and Holocaust Survivors in dire need.
3,000
Challahs a week
distributed for Shabbat!
5,000
Mattresses
1500 blankets, 150 radiators, and 500 sets for IDF soldiers and those in need!
150
Children
nurtured in after-school clubs.
10,000
Families served
weekly at our Free Shuk (Market)
1,250,000
People fed
with our 5 welcoming Restaurant-Style Soup Kitchens.
How renewal looks up close
A volunteer knocks with soup and stays to listen. A social worker calls our branch; by evening there’s a working refrigerator and basic groceries. In Sderot, teens and seniors re‑gather in our bombproof center for art and woodworking — hands busy, minds breathing. On bases, IDF Soldiers open trays of hot food and call home with softer voices. In Tzfat, a Survivor meets friends at lunch instead of eating alone.
“One Friday after an 18 hour shift, Meir Panim showed up with steaming hot food. We sat on the curb with paper plates, laughing in between bites. I called my wife after and told her, ‘We ate real food today.’ It sounds small, but it changed the whole shift.”
Eli M.
IDF Reservist
“My old fridge died this winter and I started keeping milk on the windowsill at night. Your volunteer, Michal, came with soup and looked around. She called someone, and that evening a small white fridge arrived. She helped me move the old one out and waited until the new one hummed. We ate together at the table.
R.
Holocaust survivor, Tzfat
Chanukah & Year‑End
This Chanukah, small lights, steady renewal:
Community celebrations in every branch.
Packages with candles and sufganiyot for families who need a lift.
Quiet visits to Survivors with hot soup and company.
Small surprises for reservist spouses holding the line at home.
How your support is used
Your donation becomes meals, pantry boxes, rent relief, appliances, home repairs, school supplies, and on‑base support — delivered through branches in Tzfat, Tiberias, Or Akiva, Dimona, and Jerusalem. We coordinate with city welfare offices and partner NGOs so nothing falls through the cracks. It’s practical, audited, and focused on the family in front of us.
Together we create social supports that reduce isolation and help people struggling find steady ground again.
Help a family in Israel catch their breath and start again
Create Hitchadshut together with us
All donations are
tax‑deductible
Give with confidence
American Friends of Meir Panim is a registered 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, registered under EIN Number 20-1582478 Donations to American Friends of Meir Panim are Tax Deductible in the USA.