A ceremony was held on November 2, 2017, to celebrate the opening of the new year at the Society for Advancement of Education, Jerusalem’s (SAE) Reut High School Community Kitchen.

The restaurant is now equipped with an impressive refurbished and expanded kitchen, a gift of HaKeren L’Yedidut (International Fellowship of Christians and Jews) and the Norwegian Jewish community.

The community kitchen is a wonderful initiative which provides a hot meal plus a meal to take home three times a week to needy neighborhood residents. The students at the school staff the restaurant, thereby absorbing the values of helping the needy and Tikkun Olam as an integral part of their school curriculum. Over the years, diners and students have gotten to know one another, and it has become a valued part of their routines, providing important inter-generational contact.

The ceremony included musical interludes by students and speeches by representatives of the school, the fellowship and the diners. The diners stressed how important the social interaction at the restaurant is, in addition to the meals. Many of the diners are elderly, and coming to the restaurant and meeting other people provides them with an incentive to get out of the isolation of their homes, to see smiling faces and enjoy a meal in a social setting.

The ceremony concluded with a tour of the restaurant’s large and professional kitchen. The SAE expressed its heartfelt gratitude to HaKeren L’Yedidut and the Norwegian Jewish community for the kitchen improvements, and to the Sobell Foundation, UK, the Beracha Foundation, and all those in the U.S.A. and elsewhere who donated through our online fundraising campaign to support the running of the restaurant this year. These generous contributions have enabled the school to continue to help others and to instill important values in its students.