Kosher soup kitchen ready to feed thousands during Jewish High Holidays

NEW YORK — Inside Masbia Soup Kitchen Network’s Borough Park location, a sea of seventh graders enthusiastically helped unload boxes of fruits and pack bags of food.
The wave of volunteers crowded around the kitchen to assist Kosher food influencer and cookbook author Naomi Nachman to season beef, in preparation for Tzimmes, a traditional stew.
“I wanted to bring a little bit of my flavors into my kitchen. A lot of carrots, a lot of spices, cumin, cinnamon, salt, olive oil, honey, all the yummy things, and just changing up flavor profiles,” Nachman said.
She is one of dozen of volunteers who has spent the days leading up to the Jewish High Holidays volunteering at Masbia.
Executive Director Alexander Rapaport said 10,000 packages of food are going to families in our area this time of year.
“A lot of families who get by year round feel the challenge by a holiday,” he said. “The people who are on the brink usually come for help more during the holiday season. And we actually know that the beginning is not as stressed out as towards the end, that’s when some people feel the pinch most.”
The massive undertaking is possible due to the help of local sponsors like grocery stores and food delivery company DoorDash. Meanwhile, holiday tables are set with linens and silverware, waiting for guests for holiday dinner.
“We are serving 90 in-house meals during the High Holiday season, which takes a month until it concludes, starting with the first night of Rosh Hashanah. We’ll be serving meals until the end of Sukkos and Simchas Torah,” Rapaport said.
“We call Masbia a restaurant with no cash register. We want people to come in, feel special,” Nachman said of her devotion to the organization’s mission.
On top of that, there’s a pick-up service, by appointment, where families can come and take pantry items set up on shelves.
Rapaport explained that the network’s new appointment system, available in multiple languages, allows for three people to come every five minutes, and visitors get alerts when it’s their turn to enter.
Amid the bustle, a truck pulled up with a fresh load of deliveries to be unloaded at the pantry.
In a separate storage area, bags of donated goods from the organization’s Amazon wish list waited to be sorted.
DoorDash drivers waited for their pickups, as the ambitious and costly operation made sure there’s enough food on everyone’s table.
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