Israel-Hamas war: Jerusalem restaurants chip in for war effort

The Torah tells the story of how Abraham’s servant Eliezer chose Rivka to be Isaac’s wife, thus making her the matriarchal ancestor of the Jewish people. It was her act of kindness at a well that won him over. As if we did not know it, these past few weeks confirm that the Children of Israel have inherited Rivka’s quality of kindness.

Taken by surprise on October 7, the country was unprepared for the thousands of homeless refugees from the Western Negev, and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the fighting force. Before the authorities could organize themselves to provide for the overwhelming numbers, restaurants all over Israel stepped up to do what they do best: provide food.

These restaurants did not ask how they were going to do it and how they would pay for it. By the day after the attack, many restaurants had already transformed themselves from serving food at tables to providing packaged meals to soldiers and survivors. Suppliers donated raw ingredients, the kitchen staff cooked the meals, and an army of volunteers came to pack, load, and deliver the meals to soldiers and displaced citizens. This was Israel at its best.

Piccolino Restaurant

• The Music Center, Yoel Solomon, Jerusalem
• 077-997-5989 
• Kashrut: Badatz Mehadrin

You don’t have to look far to find kindness and generosity in Jerusalem. From the first day of the war, owner Anat closed Piccolino Restaurant in the Music Square on Yoel Moshe Solomon Street to the public so that they could prepare and distribute about a thousand meals a day to soldiers. Piccolino is no stranger to generosity. Nine years ago, in her army service, Anat’s daughter worked with lone soldiers. “All the other soldiers” she said, “go home to a nice homemade meal on Shabbat. How can we do this for the lone soldiers?” From that moment on, many lone soldiers had a home at Piccolino. Every Friday since then, the restaurant has hosted between 50 to 80 lone soldiers. This project is self-funded by the restaurant as part of its personal hessed (acts of loving kindness) program.

Piccolino works together with Jerusalem’s Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin (lonesoldiercenter.com). Piccolino participated in a Thanksgiving event for the lone soldiers, and special gifts were given to female soldiers in the name of fallen lone soldier Rose Lubin of Atlanta.

Some of Anat’s clients have joined her and contributed generously to supporting our troops and displaced civilians. The restaurant does not take financial donations but accepts goods that the staff distribute where necessary. For example, Anat said, her husband drove up to Tiberias with packages of goods that were needed.

Hansen House Café

• 14 Gdalyahu Alon, Jerusalem
• 052-366-6850
• Kashrut: Tzohar

Hansen House is a sprawling legacy property in Jerusalem’s Talbiyeh neighborhood. Neglected for dozens of years, the property was refurbished by the Jerusalem Municipality in 2013 for the benefit of arts and cultural events in the city. Ofaimme, a sustainable farm in the Arava with free-range eggs and organic produce, runs a coffee shop in Hansen House. In the chaotic days after the Hamas attack, Golan, the owner of the Ofaimme industry, transformed the coffee shop into a center for production of food packages for soldiers and displaced Israelis. In the early days of the war, Ofaimme supplied 10,000 meals a day, prepared and distributed by volunteers. These were sent to soldiers in the assembly area waiting to go into Gaza, displaced families in temporary housing without cooking facilities, and to Hadassah Hospital for the patients and nurses.

These days, in a farm-to-farm gesture, Hansen House is the venue for purchasing fresh produce from the farms on the kibbutzim and moshavim in the Western Negev. Sales take place on Thursday afternoons in the lovely courtyard of Hansen House. All the work, from the harvest in the fields to the packaging and sale, and delivery to the various locations, is done by volunteers, with all the proceeds going to the farmers. Customers pay the farmers directly through Paybox.

Recently, Ofaimme reopened a modest Hansen House Café at the entrance to the property to provide work and income for their employees. The menu includes fresh salads made with the farm’s organic vegetables, cheeses, and desserts.

Gourmandises

• 058-400-8720; gourmandisesbyyoel@gmail.com
• Kashrut: Mehadrin 

Gourmandises French restaurant/bakery is a culinary landmark. Pastry chef Yoel and manager Livnatt offer unique baked goods. Some time ago, Gourmandises changed its model to catering only. On the night after Simchat Torah, it was set to cater a party. When the hosts learned of the Hamas attack, in no mood for a party, they canceled the catering order and asked Livnatt to donate the food to soldiers. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Gourmandises supplies 4,000 meals a week to soldiers. The menu includes pasta, fish, rice, potato pie, and items that can be eaten at room temperature because soldiers may not have heating facilities. Army units contact her with their requests. The menu never varies, she tells the soldiers. “That works for me,” comes the reply.

Livnatt appealed to her restaurant clients and solicited funds for the ingredients. The credit cards poured in with donations from all over the world. The project is manned by volunteers, including Livnatt, who does not draw a profit. She herself has two sons in the army; rather than worrying, she focuses her energy on helping others.

Livnatt has enlisted the help of the French community, and every week they supply 3,000 challot to the soldiers. The challa recipe is on the Gourmandises Facebook page: www.facebook.com/gourmandisesbyyoel. ❖

The writer is founder and CEO of eLuna.com, an English-language website for kosher restaurants in Israel.