Masbia
Encyclopedia
Masbia is a network of kosher
soup kitchen
s in New York City
. Its four locations in the Brooklyn
neighborhoods of Boro Park
, Williamsburg
, and Midwood
, and Rego Park, Queens
, serve over 500 free, hot kosher meals nightly. Masbia is the only free soup kitchen serving kosher meals in New York City. The organization receives some state and city aid, but relies heavily on private donations of money and food to meet its $500,000 annual operating budget.
Jewish resident of Brooklyn who donated the seed money for the first restaurant in Boro Park in 2005. He and co-founder Alexander Rapaport, another member of the Brooklyn Hasidic community, were aware of many families who had fallen on hard times and were struggling with the high costs of rent and tuition. Back in 2003, a report by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
had shown that 30% of Brooklyn Jews were living at or below the poverty line. Mandelbaum proposed the idea of feeding Jewish families in a more "formal, systematic way" through a free kosher restaurant which would be supported by others in the community who were still well-off. Masbia was set up as a restaurant in order not to humiliate singles and families who were unused to eating in a soup kitchen. Many Masbia patrons are men from the Hasidic community, for whom poverty is a cultural sign of shame.
The Boro Park restaurant opened in April 2005 in a converted railroad apartment
. On opening night, the staff prepared 25 meals and only eight people showed up. Six months later, 120 patrons were frequenting the restaurant nightly. The restaurant's logo, a tent with openings on all four sides, recalls the tent of Abraham
, the Jewish paragon of hospitality whose tent was open to all comers.
Beginning in 2009, the worsening recession prompted the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty to ally with Masbia, resulting in the opening of additional free restaurants in Williamsburg (opened November 2009), Midwood (opened November 2009), and Rego Park, Queens (opened March 2010). The new locations increased Masbia's overall patronship by 300%. In fiscal year 2010–2011, Masbia served 82,292 meals, a 50% increase over the previous year.
Rebbe, Rabbi Yeshayah Steiner
(d. 1925), who was known for feeding the hungry, steak is served. Meals are always meat-based except during The Nine Days
, when Masbia serves fish dishes.
Food for all four restaurants is prepared fresh daily at the Midwood location on Coney Island Boulevard, a former restaurant with a large commercial kitchen. Volunteers often drop by to assist the kitchen staff. Any leftovers are frozen in containers and handed out on Thursdays for patrons to take home for their Shabbat
meals. This food package program, begun in the 2010–2011 fiscal year, has seen the distribution of 68,522 take-home meals.
and New York City Harvest, and unsold produce from farmers markets
in Boro Park and Windsor Terrace
.
Recalling a tradition in the European shtetl
for families to sponsor a meal for the poor on the day of their child's wedding, Masbia encourages couples and their parents to sponsor meals – at $6 a plate – at Masbia on the night before or the night of their wedding. Several Rebbe
s from Boro Park and Williamsburg have sponsored and also hosted the meal for the poor at Masbia on the night before their child's wedding, including the Kosover
Rebbe, the Satmar
Rebbe, the Bobover Rebbe, the Spinker
Rebbe, and the Foltishaner Rebbe; the latter was joined by his son, the groom.
Masbia solicits endorsements from well-known Orthodox Jewish personalities to aid in its fundraising. These include bestselling kosher cookbook author Susie Fishbein
, who launched a "Book Dinner at Masbia" campaign by offering a free cookbook for every $120 donation; Hasidic superstar Lipa Schmeltzer
, who volunteered to help serve on steak night; and artist Jodi Reznik, who donated her paintings to decorate the walls of the restaurant.
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
soup kitchen
Soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
s in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Its four locations in the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
neighborhoods of Boro Park
Borough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park , is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City in the United States....
, Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
, and Midwood
Midwood, Brooklyn
Midwood is a neighborhood in the south central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, New York, USA, roughly halfway between Prospect Park and Coney Island. The neighborhood is within Community District 14...
, and Rego Park, Queens
Rego Park, Queens
Rego Park is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens.-Geography:Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, the east and south by Forest Hills and the west by Middle Village.-History:...
, serve over 500 free, hot kosher meals nightly. Masbia is the only free soup kitchen serving kosher meals in New York City. The organization receives some state and city aid, but relies heavily on private donations of money and food to meet its $500,000 annual operating budget.
History
Masbia was the brainchild of Mordechai Mandelbaum, a HasidicHasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
Jewish resident of Brooklyn who donated the seed money for the first restaurant in Boro Park in 2005. He and co-founder Alexander Rapaport, another member of the Brooklyn Hasidic community, were aware of many families who had fallen on hard times and were struggling with the high costs of rent and tuition. Back in 2003, a report by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty is a New York-based non-profit social services organization. It offers services to help needy New Yorkers.-History:...
had shown that 30% of Brooklyn Jews were living at or below the poverty line. Mandelbaum proposed the idea of feeding Jewish families in a more "formal, systematic way" through a free kosher restaurant which would be supported by others in the community who were still well-off. Masbia was set up as a restaurant in order not to humiliate singles and families who were unused to eating in a soup kitchen. Many Masbia patrons are men from the Hasidic community, for whom poverty is a cultural sign of shame.
The Boro Park restaurant opened in April 2005 in a converted railroad apartment
Railroad apartment
A railroad apartment is an apartment with a series of rooms connecting to each other in a line. A hallway typically runs the length of the apartment or flat from the front door to the back door, outside each room. This is similar in design to a railway car. This usage is most common in New York...
. On opening night, the staff prepared 25 meals and only eight people showed up. Six months later, 120 patrons were frequenting the restaurant nightly. The restaurant's logo, a tent with openings on all four sides, recalls the tent of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, the Jewish paragon of hospitality whose tent was open to all comers.
Beginning in 2009, the worsening recession prompted the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty to ally with Masbia, resulting in the opening of additional free restaurants in Williamsburg (opened November 2009), Midwood (opened November 2009), and Rego Park, Queens (opened March 2010). The new locations increased Masbia's overall patronship by 300%. In fiscal year 2010–2011, Masbia served 82,292 meals, a 50% increase over the previous year.
Operations
Masbia currently serves over 500 meals nightly in four locations in Brooklyn and Queens. The dining rooms, open Sunday through Thursday from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., have an upscale look, with polished wood floors, cloth-covered tables, and wall paintings. Food is served on trays by waiters. Artificial plants, screens or curtains, depending on the location, shield tables for privacy. The three-course meals include chicken, a starch, vegetables, fruit, bread and a hot drink. For example, the menu in Queens one night was vegetable soup, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon, apples, rolls, and hot tea. One night a year, on the yahrtzeit of the KerestirKerestir (Hasidic dynasty)
Kerestir is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yeshaya Steiner. Kerestir is the Yiddish name of Bodrogkeresztúr, a town in Hungary.- Lineage :* Rebbe Yeshaya Steiner ** Rebbe Avrohom Steiner , son of Rebbe Yeshaya...
Rebbe, Rabbi Yeshayah Steiner
Yeshayah Steiner
Grand Rabbi Yeshaya Steiner of Kerestir , was the founder of the Kerestirer Hasidic dynasty.He was born on Iyar 3, 1851 in the town of Zbarav, Hungary. When he was 3 years old, his father died. At the age of 12, his mother sent him to study with to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Liska, Hungary, the author of...
(d. 1925), who was known for feeding the hungry, steak is served. Meals are always meat-based except during The Nine Days
The Nine Days
The Nine Days is a religious observance in Judaism that takes place during the first nine days of the Jewish month of Av...
, when Masbia serves fish dishes.
Food for all four restaurants is prepared fresh daily at the Midwood location on Coney Island Boulevard, a former restaurant with a large commercial kitchen. Volunteers often drop by to assist the kitchen staff. Any leftovers are frozen in containers and handed out on Thursdays for patrons to take home for their Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
meals. This food package program, begun in the 2010–2011 fiscal year, has seen the distribution of 68,522 take-home meals.
Fundraising
The organization's $500,000 budget is partly covered by city and state aid and mostly acquired through donations. In addition to soliciting monetary donations, Masbia has a corps of volunteers who collect donated food throughout the city. Beginning in summer 2010, Masbia began collecting weekly donations of fresh produce from the Food Bank For New York CityFood Bank For New York City
Food Bank For New York City is a non-profit social services organization. Its aim is to organize food, information and support for needy citizens of New York City.-History:The Food Bank For New York City was founded in 1983...
and New York City Harvest, and unsold produce from farmers markets
Farmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
in Boro Park and Windsor Terrace
Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
Windsor Terrace is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Prospect Park to the northeast and Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, to the southwest. Its southeastern boundary is Caton Avenue, while to the northwest it is bordered by Prospect Park West...
.
Recalling a tradition in the European shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
for families to sponsor a meal for the poor on the day of their child's wedding, Masbia encourages couples and their parents to sponsor meals – at $6 a plate – at Masbia on the night before or the night of their wedding. Several Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
s from Boro Park and Williamsburg have sponsored and also hosted the meal for the poor at Masbia on the night before their child's wedding, including the Kosover
Kosov (Hasidic dynasty)
Kosov is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager of Kosiv, a town in Galicia, presently in Ukraine.The present Rebbe is Grand Rabbi Shraga Hager, who lives in Borough Park, Brooklyn, where most of his Hasidim also live. There is also a Kosover synagogue in Tzfas ,...
Rebbe, the Satmar
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
Rebbe, the Bobover Rebbe, the Spinker
Spinka (Hasidic dynasty)
Spinka is the name of a Hasidic group within Orthodox Judaism. The group originated in a city called Săpânţa , Maramureş, Romania, near the Hungarian border.-Spinka rebbes:...
Rebbe, and the Foltishaner Rebbe; the latter was joined by his son, the groom.
Masbia solicits endorsements from well-known Orthodox Jewish personalities to aid in its fundraising. These include bestselling kosher cookbook author Susie Fishbein
Susie Fishbein
Susan Beth Fishbein is an Orthodox Jewish kosher cookbook author. Her Kosher By Design series of cookbooks has been a runaway best-seller for ArtScroll, with over 400,000 copies sold from 2003 through 2010...
, who launched a "Book Dinner at Masbia" campaign by offering a free cookbook for every $120 donation; Hasidic superstar Lipa Schmeltzer
Lipa Schmeltzer
Elazar Lipa Schmeltzer is an American Hasidic singer and composer. He is a headliner within Hasidic and Haredi communities worldwide and has been called "the Jewish Elvis". Schmeltzer has released 10 solo albums as of 2011...
, who volunteered to help serve on steak night; and artist Jodi Reznik, who donated her paintings to decorate the walls of the restaurant.