March 14-16, 2014 By Yi Yang, NTD TelevisionNEW YORK—Many Borough Park, Brooklyn residents saw a horse trotting along the streets. Leading the horse was Alexander Rapaport, executive director of Masbia Soup Kitchen. He and other Masbia staff members toured the neighborhood on March 14 and collected donations in anticipation of Purim, a Jewish holiday celebrating an escape from persecution. It is also a time for giving.Borrowing from the story of the Triumph of Mordecai in the book of Esther, Rapaport hoped that the horse would inspire people in the community to “throw charity” at it. 

March 14, 2014 As a reminder of the Triumph of Mordecai, part of the story from the Book of Esther for Purim, horses and bicycles will take the streets of Boro Park for Masbia Soup Kitchen Network`s “ככה יעשה…” Purim Drive. Roughly translated as “This is how you should do it,” these simple words are a reminder of Masbia’s mission to serve those in need with dignity and respect and serve as a call to action for all of us.

March 14, 2014 A video by Rachael Levy   

March 13, 2014Enter Masbia`s front door and you will be greeted by a smiling host, who’ll then show you to your table. Moments later, an equally friendly server will offer you a hot and nutritious kosher meal, a fresh salad, and a beverage. The only difference between Masbia and other New York City restaurants comes at the end of each meal when there is no charge. That’s because Masbia—which means “to satiate” in Hebrew—is a soup kitchen for the hungry.

March 10, 2014By Lorraine Chow Why the home-cooked meals served at Masbia fill bellies and warms hearts.  

March 4, 2014By Rachael Levy   

February 25, 2014By Rachael Levy On a recent icy afternoon, about 50 people lined up outside Masbia, a food kitchen in Queens. They waited 30 minutes past the scheduled dinnertime as kitchen workers struggled to open for service.“It’s not easy,” said Racquel Kahn, who had come off a 45-minute subway ride from Manhattan, as she shivered outside. She said she started coming to the pantry after her food stamps were cut by about $10 a month last fall.Ever since those cuts, the city’s pantries have reported an influx of hungry people. About half of the pantries ran out of food after November’s cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for food stamps, according to a study conducted by Food Bank for New York City.And it could get worse.

February 13, 2014By Luis GrondaA Rego Park food pantry is giving people the choice to decide what food they want for their families.Last week, the Rego Park Masbia food pantry, located at 98-08 Queens Blvd., introduced a new system that allows residents to choose what they take home as opposed to just giving them a pile of food.It is a points system determined by food’s weight. You get 36 points in total to spend on whatever food you would like. The choices are divided up into three categories: fruits and vegetables, grains and protein and meat.

February 12, 2014By Jeannette Josue

January 28, 2014By Sandy Eller New York - A congressional vote being held tomorrow on a plan that would make major cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has many New Yorkers on edge, with almost 44 percent of those affected living in the Empire State.As previously reported on VIN News, a massive farm bill would continue generous subsidies to farmers but would also cut make drastic cuts to food stamp recipients.“350,000 out of the 800,000 people affected are residents of New York State,” Alexander Rappaport, executive director of Masbia, told VIN News. “New York is very adversely affected by this.”