Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel is a nonprofit organization in Tel Aviv, dedicated to Israel’s diverse and creative food culture.
“We promote, nurture, research [and] encourage the Israeli culinary story, ecosystem, players, industry, all of it,” ASIF CEO Chico Menashe told the Journal.
A partner organization of the Jewish Food Society (JFS) in New York City, this unique center has a library of 2,000 books, a gallery with rotating exhibitions and a very nice restaurant with a deli, promoting and presenting Israeli ingredients and Israeli dishes.
“Not Jewish, but Israeli,” Menashe clarified. “We have all cultures of the Israeli society [and] we have many public programs, meetups, summits [and] pop ups; a very wide variety of content and activities.
In October, ASIF shifted their focus. “From the second day of the war we identified the needs that came from the communities from all over,” Menashe said.
For instance, the municipality of Tel Aviv reached out. “They tell me, ‘We have a group of 400 people [who] came to a hotel here. They get breakfast, but we don’t have any solution for hot meals. Can you assist?’”
Then, he got a call from the municipality of Ashkelom. Residents at a home for the elderly, who used to cook for themselves, cannot go out shopping.
‘Is there a chance you can assist us with 500 meals per day?’ they asked.
ASIF went from preparing 100 to 150 meals a day to 1,300 hot meals for evacuees and others.
ASIF went from preparing 100 to 150 meals a day to 1,300 hot meals for evacuees and others. While they got even more requests in the early days of the war, things have settled out a bit. They are currently providing restaurant-quality meals for two elderly care homes/centers in Ashkelon, independent elderly in Tel Aviv and 800 evacuees from the South.
“We had to recruit more cooks immediately,’ Menashe said.
They posted on social media their request for volunteers; around 300 people registered. On a daily basis, between 20 and 30 volunteers come in to assist with prepping, cooking and packing the food. Menashe has seven employees; the rest of their help comes from volunteers.
“People who come here to volunteer — and our employees — are saying again and again, how important it is as part of the healing process,” Menashe said. “They feel really privileged, and … I personally feel privileged for the ability to assist others.”
Since JFS has been fundraising, ASIF is able to pay their suppliers, rather than rely on donations of ingredients.
“We told them, ‘We know you give many donations to other places — vegetables and other ingredients — but we insisted to keep paying,” Menashe said.
He has also been able to offer work in an unexpected manner.
“We had to find a way to distribute the food,” Menashe said. “We know how to make food, but we have no experience with transportation and logistics,”.
A tour guide explained to Menashe how he and his colleagues are out of work.
“‘I said, ‘’Wait a second: your colleagues are tour guides. They have cars, right?”
A day later, a group of six tour guides, around 60 or 70-years-old, arrived with their Mercedes vans, which ASIF loaded up and sent on their way. They are doing the food delivery throughout Israel, every day,
“They are part of the team now, really by accident,” Menashe said.
Menashe, who sends thank yous to volunteers on WhatsApp throughout the week, recently took them to visit the communities for which they are preparing food. He wanted them to see how much they are appreciated.
“When you meet the people that you assist, it makes your neshama, your soul, even more committed than before,” he said.
He continued, “From time to time, I come [to ASIF], to this huge factory, this emergency kitchen, this emergency hub that we built … I stand sometimes with tears in my eyes, because it is a privilege to do this sort of giving.”
Learn more at asif.org. Those interested in nourishing Israel can donate here.
