Just about every hotel in the Holy Land offers guests an all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast and dinner.

So what do some hotels in Jerusalem do when the food supply outweighs the demand? These hotels refuse to waste the food, especially when there are hungry people on Jerusalem’s streets. That’s because wasting food is considered a sin according to the Bible as it says in Deuteronomy:

When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? (Deuteronomy 20:19)

The reason God instructed the nation of Israel not to destroy the trees is that it is a waste of food. Therefore, surplus produce is delivered to a soup kitchen to feed the less fortunate. 

The soup kitchen they take it to is run by a charitable organization called ‘Meir Panim’. But Meir Panim’s soup kitchen isn’t just any old soup kitchen. 

Meir Panim’s Restaurant-Style soup kitchens offer hunger-stricken Israelis the opportunity to forget about the stress of their day-to-day lives which involves wondering where their next meal will come from. And because the soup kitchens have the ambiance of a real restaurant and meals are served, the patrons who eat there do so with dignity and not shame. At Meir Panim’s Restaurant-Style soup kitchen in Jerusalem, patrons truly feel as though they’re dining in a real restaurant.

The experience provides Israelis an opportunity to forget about their dire living conditions. It also gives them both the space and perspective they so desperately need to figure out their next move to get back on their feet. The patrons also receive the support and encouragement they require from the volunteers who serve them.

While the Jerusalem Restaurant-Style soup kitchen receives some produce on a regular basis, other food products and pantry items are necessary to prepare meals.

In order to have all the necessary ingredients needed to cook meals, Meir Panim relies on generous donations from people like you that have big hearts.

Meir Panim is an extremely worthy cause to donate to. And if you donate to Meir Panim today, you will be killing two birds with one stone. That’s because not only are you helping to avoid the sin of wasting food, you are also feeding Israel’s hungry, which is also a commandment in the Torah. As the prophet Isaiah explains:

It is to share your bread with the hungry, And to take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him, And not to ignore your own kin. (Isaiah 58:7)

Additionally, you will be enabling the impoverished Israeli citizens to enjoy some much-needed dignity. 

Meir Panim also operates five Restaurant-Style soup kitchens in other cities across Israel including Tzfat, Tiberias, Or Akiva and Dimona.

Now’s your chance to give whatever you can. Help fill a hungry stomach. Help save a life. Donate to Meir Panim today.