Masbia, the only kosher soup kitchen in New York, recently welcomed renowned guests including noted artist Jodi Reznik; Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, prominent pediatrician Dr. Mark Lew and Janet Rugg Lew and Assemblyman Dov Hikind. They were invited to help spruce up the kitchen’s current design, and in turn, help raise money for the organization.
Reznik donated some of her works of art to the Masbia Kitchen. She has received great media attention for her “Portraits of the Fallen Angels Project,” where she paints oil on canvas portraits of NYPD members who lost their lives in the line of duty, and presents them to the surviving families. She donated her paintings to Masbia to help them raise the $10,000 a week that they need to keep their doors open with dignity. “Few sights could be as satisfying as seeing the little ones eat up at Masbia just like other kids. This is a cause I want to be part of,” said Reznik.
The artwork will now decorate the walls of the soup kitchen, creating an atmosphere that is more like a nice restaurant, in contrast with the bare walls of a social service organization that merely serves the community’s hungry.
According to Alexander Rapaport, co-founder of Masbia, the kitchen serves nearly 1,000 sumptuous kosher meals a week in a family-friendly environment. “It breaks my heart when I see a parent rummaging through the garbage, hoping against hope to find dinner for the family,” said Rapaport. “We founded Masbia to end that kind of unhealthy desperate behavior.”
Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, noted author and lecturer for more than 20 years, notes that Masbia is doing the work of Avraham Avinu. “What great nachas the Avot must be having in Shamayim, watching the pure hesed of Masbia on a daily basis. It’s greater than being Mekabel the Shechinah!” said Rabbi Goldwasser.
Assemblyman Dov Hikind, well-known for his acts of hesed stated that more than 75% of food stamp recipients exhaust their benefits within the first three weeks of the month.
“The great people at Masbia fill a void that none of us should ever know—emptiness in children’s stomachs,” said Hikind.
Dr. Mark and Janet Rugg Lew, who run Brooklyn’s prestigious Lew Pediatric Center, served meals together with Hikind, Reznik and Rabbi Goldwasser because of the impact they know it makes on a youngster’s life.
“Hundreds of children enter our doors each month. Most have ailments that we can cure. Hunger in children is heart breaking; the physical, and psychological and emotional damage that it does to a child may be irreversible. We are proud to stand with these great New Yorkers in supporting the work of Masbia,” said Janet Rugg Lew.
Dr. Mark Lew noted that, “looking back in time it will not mater much about the size of your bank account, your home or your car, or the clothes that you wore; but the world may just be a much better place because you mattered in the life of a child.”
