The Jewish tradition teaches us that we are all ONE! This means that we are all responsible for each other and must help each other out. Help can be as simple as lending a hand with heavy groceries, opening the door, providing information/guidance, or more complicated like finding a person a job or providing the needy with a meal.

In honor of my upcoming Bar Mitzvah, I have decided to honor the lesson taught in my Parsha, Parshat Miketz. In Miketz, Joseph wisely interprets Pharaoh's dreams and is then able to alleviate hunger through careful planning. This is why I have chosen Masbia as my mitzvah project and I am asking for your help. Masbia is a nonprofit soup kitchen network and food pantry that opened its doors in Brooklyn in April of 2005. Just like Joseph, the founders of Masbia have been able to feed the hungry through careful planning.

Masbia currently has 3 branches in Brooklyn and Queens and provides approximately 2,000 hot dinners/week in a restaurant style. People are served a salad, drink, soup, a protein (like chicken or fish), two hot side dishes and dessert. They are served by an all-volunteer staff in a respectful fashion. These “customers” are the frail and elderly, the homeless or someone that has no means of providing a meal for him/herself or his/her family.

This year, Masbia reached out to local NY farmers and CSA programs in order to get fresh and local produce donations. They have even started a take-home package program. Just like Joseph, Masbia makes sure that the families that reach out to them get the number of packages that serves their numbers.

It is very easy and inexpensive to help out this special organization. You can sponsor a meal for just $6.00 and a mere $54 can provide dinner for an entire family. Please make your tax-deductible contribution below.

I pray that in the merit of this mitzvah, you and your family should always be on the giving end of things and may the light of the Chanukah candles always protect you and yours.

Respectfully,
Michael Manouel