Australian army officers baking cookies in Our Big Kitchen
Cooking away down under in Our Big Kitchen: would an Australian rabbi’s innovation work here, too?
By Judah S. Harris
Issue of Dec. 5, 2008 / 8 Kislev 5769
Many people dream of a larger kitchen, but Rabbi Dovid Slavin of Sydney, Australia wanted an even bigger one than usual. A Brooklyn-born Chabad rabbi, living Down Under for half his life, he is the founder of Our Big Kitchen, a non-profit community kitchen located in Bondi, a suburb of Sydney with a significant Jewish presence (Sydney has 40,000 Jews in an overall population of four million people).
It might take a few seconds to conjure an image of what a “community kitchen” might be. Is this a larger kitchen used to feed seniors, or prepare meals for the needy? Is it, perhaps, a space that can be used for preparations for events in the community?
Our Big Kitchen fulfills those needs and more. It’s a food preparation and educational facility, a well-equipped industrial cooking space that is friendly, modern, innovative in its programming and used for multiple purposes on behalf of the local Sydney community, as well as other national causes in Australia.
Founded by Rabbi Slavin in February 2005, the kitchen beneath an existing building — including a synagogue —designed by legendary Australian architect Harry Seidler. Thanks to a few radio spots that have run on local stations, an attention-getting name, and an array of social service and educational events, recognition for Our Big Kitchen has grown significantly in a fairly short amount of time.
All types of people of all ages have arrived at the kitchen for cooking sessions and visits.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with Rabbi Slavin in Our Big Kitchen
“The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, came to the kitchen on a Friday and we braided challah,” says Rabbi Slavin, who also tells of the time senior Australian army officers came in uniform, tied on aprons, and baked cookies that were distributed to the hungry in Sydney. This was in appreciation of the school kids who had come to Our Big Kitchen to bake thousands of biscuits that were shipped to soldiers on active duty.
When farmers faced a drought, care packages were prepared in the kitchen. Meals for the city’s homeless are also prepared there. Kids visit to learn how to cook and how to eat better. Organizations that don’t have their own facilities are invited, says Rabbi Slavin, “to come use the kitchen to cook for the people who you think are important,” and private companies conduct “team-building” activities on the premises.
Our Big Kitchen is run as a strictly kosher facility, with 50 percent of its space allocated for meat, and 25 percent each for pareve and dairy. The kitchen is able to kasher certain items as needed. For instance, says Rabbi Slavin, “when chefs come they bring their favorite knives.”
With additional eating and patio areas, Our Big Kitchen offers the community more than 3,000 square feet, ample space for people to come together. “Food brings people together, but Our Big Kitchen brings the community together,” said one Sydney radio ad.
Our Big Kitchen
Recapturing a sense of community was Rabbi Slavin’s primary motivation. As Sydney grew, segments of the population, especially the elderly, were getting lost. He wanted to “preserve a sense of community, family, a small town feeling,” and credits the realization of his idea to many others. “The kitchen was built exclusively by the largesse of the building industry… tiles were donated, cement, bricks, labor for excavation.”
Almost four years later, the kitchen depends on ongoing public and corporate support, encouraging volunteerism, financial contributions and equipment donations. Rabbi Slavin acknowledges that he is still trying to perfect the model, hoping to advance in areas such as e-mails to volunteers, initiation of a newsletter (aptly named “What’s Cooking”), controlling inventory, bar code optimization and maximizing use of the facility.
“I would like to see the kitchen used 24/6,” he explains. “It’s being used only 15 to 20 percent now.”
Rabbi Slavin just flew back to Sydney with his family after spending a couple of weeks in the United States attending weddings, the just concluded International Conference of Shluchim, last week’s Kosherfest at the Meadowlands, and meetings with companies that make prepared meals. Though not looking for Our Big Kitchen to become a mass producer, Rabbi Slavin is intent on meeting with people in the food world “that started small ideas and made them bigger,” and exploring manufacturing options such as frozen or vacuum-packed, that “would help bring our costs down by producing meals that could be sold.”
But selling Our Big Kitchen branded meals would also contain an important social component, by boosting the esteem of those in need that receive food packages. “If meals would be available for sale,” explains Rabbi Slavin, “then it makes recipients feel good. There’s a dollar amount attached to it.”
Rabbi Slavin believes that his idea for Our Big Kitchen could do well here, especially in New York, a place with diverse communities. Whether through a formal alliance or shared ideas, he’d like to see something happen.
“America has been a trailblazer in terms of philanthropy and giving. I’d really like to see some people doing this so we can see cross-fertilization of ideas.”
Our Big Kitchen can be visited on the web at www. obk.org.au.
Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker, speaker and writer. His work can be seen at www.judahsharris.com/visit. E-mail him at judah@judahsharris.com.
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