Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

First Kosher Soup Kitchen Opens in Milan, Thanks to Chabad

Chabad in Milan is preparing to launch what is said to be the first kosher soup kitchen in Italy.

Sponsored by the Milan branch of Chabad’s educational organization, Merkos l’Inyonei Chinuch, it is expected to begin operation at the end of the summer.

The initiative will be a canteen providing free take-away meals to needy people and will be located in the Merkos school, according to an announcement on Friday.

“The big difference that will make the Merkos canteen unique in respect to other similar initiatives in Italy and Milan will be that it will be kosher,” the statement said.

The canteen will be aimed at needy members of the Jewish community, but, the statement said, it will also serve non-Jews in need.

Similar Merkos projects are under way in Australia and Brazil, according to Chabad.

A gala benefit to support the project will be held June 17 at Milan’s Vetra Theatre, featuring the Jewish singer Raiz, front man of a noted Italian rock group.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.