Masbia
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Masbia ( he, משביע, lit., "satiate") is a network of
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...
s in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Its three locations in the
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
neighborhoods of Borough Park and
Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, a ...
, as well as the
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
neighborhood of
Rego Park Rego Park is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village. Rego Park's boundaries include 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 10% of its budget from government aid, relying heavily on private donations of money and food to meet its $2 million annual operating budget.


Name

The
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
name ''Masbia'' comes from a verse in the
Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
: "''Poteach es yadecha u'masbia l'chol chai ratzon'' – You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing" ().


History

Masbia is the brainchild of Mordechai Mandelbaum, a
Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
resident of Brooklyn who donated the seed money for the first restaurant in Borough 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 The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) is a New York City-based non-profit social services organization. It offers many services to help hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in need. History The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Po ...
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 Borough Park restaurant opened in April 2005 in a converted
railroad apartment A railroad apartment or railroad flat, sometimes referred to as a floor-through apartment, is an apartment with a series of rooms connecting to each other in a line.Sennett, Richard. ''The Conscience of the Eye: The Design and Social Life of Citie ...
. 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, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, 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 patronage by 300%. In fiscal year 2010–2011, Masbia served 82,292 meals, a 50% increase over the previous year. In fiscal year 2012–2013, nearly 450,000 meals were served. In 2013 the Williamsburg location closed due to funding shortfalls and lack of customers.


Operations

Masbia serves over 500 meals nightly in Brooklyn and Queens. Rain or snow usually decreases the nightly patronage to about 400 diners, while Thursday nights can see up to 600 diners. 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 Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of '' minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community. Mourners In Judaism, the ...
'' of the Kerestir 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 The Nine Days of Av are a time of commemoration and spiritual observance in Judaism during the first nine days of the Jewish month of Av (corresponding to July/August). The Nine Days begin on Rosh Chodesh Av ("First of Av") and culminates on ...
, when Masbia serves fish dishes. Masbia also schedules a
Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...
on the first two nights of
Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
which draw around 40 participants each. Food for all the restaurants is prepared fresh daily at the Midwood location on Coney Island Boulevard, a former restaurant with a large commercial kitchen. The paid kitchen staff consists of a chef and helper; up to 25 volunteers assist them. The menu is largely dependent on the produce and foodstuffs that are donated that day; during periods when the same vegetable, such as carrots, is all that is available, the cook will vary the menu by preparing it sweet one day, salty the next.Burstyn, Rochel. "A Great Cholent ... & Beyond". ''
Binyan In Hebrew, verbs, which take the form of derived stems, are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typica ...
'', April 22, 2015, pp. 8-9.
Day-old produce and leftovers from outside catered events, such as weddings, are not accepted, so as to uphold the dignity of patrons. Leftovers from the meals themselves are frozen in containers and handed out on Thursdays for patrons to take home for their
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
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 $2 million budget is partially 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 City Food Bank For New York City is a non-profit social services organization and the major hunger-relief organization working against hunger in the five boroughs. Its aim is to organize food, information and support for needy citizens of New York City ...
and New York City Harvest, and unsold produce from
farmers markets A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
in Boro Park and Windsor Terrace. During the Nine Days, 2,500 portions of fish are donated to Masbia by the Dagim company. Recalling a tradition in the European
shtetl A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...
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 A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
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 Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynasty ...
Rebbe, the
Bobover Bobov (or Bobover Hasidism) ( he, חסידות באבוב, yi, בּאָבּאָװ) is a Hasidic community within Haredi Judaism, originating in Bobowa, Galicia, in southern Poland, and now headquartered in the neighborhood of Borough Park, in B ...
Rebbe, the Spinker Rebbe, and the Faltishaner 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 Susan Beth Fishbein (born 1968) is an American Orthodox Jewish kosher cookbook author, cooking teacher, and culinary tour leader. Her ''Kosher By Design'' series of cookbooks was a runaway best-seller for ArtScroll, with over 500,000 copies so ...
, who in 2010 launched a "Book Dinner at Masbia" campaign offering a free cookbook for every $120 donation and in 2013 donated new tables and chairs for the restaurants; Hasidic celebrity
Lipa Schmeltzer Lipa Schmeltzer ( yi, אלעזר ליפא שמעלצער ''Elazar Lipa Schmeltzer'', he, ליפא שמלצר; born March 17, 1978) is an American singer, entertainer, and composer. He is a headliner in Hasidic as well as modern Jewish communi ...
, who volunteered to help serve on steak night; and artist Jodi Reznik, who donated her paintings to decorate the walls of the restaurant.


See also

*
List of kosher restaurants This is a list of notable kosher restaurants. A kosher restaurant is an establishment that serves food that complies with Jewish dietary laws ('' kashrut''). These businesses, which also include diners, cafés, pizzerias, fast food, and cafete ...


References

{{Coord, 40, 38, 17, N, 73, 59, 7, W, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Jewish charities based in the United States Jews and Judaism in Brooklyn Orthodox Jews and Judaism in New York City Organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 2005 Hebrew words and phrases Kosher restaurants 2005 establishments in New York City Charities based in New York City