Different hands, same work
Jewish, Muslim and Christian schoolchildren have gathered at Sydney’s Our Big Kitchen to cook food and biscuits for frontline workers and victims as once in a lifetime flooding ravaged the south-east coast of Australia.
OBK CEO Rabbi Dr Dovid Slavin and Rabbi Zalman Kastel watch multicultural food preparation
Also lending a hand was the British Consul-General based in Sydney, Michael Ward.
Heavy rains continue to pour down in Sydney itself causing heavy flooding, bringing devastating damage to parts of the city and across the eastern part of the state of NSW.
OBK CEO Rabbi Dr Dovid Slavin and British Consul-General Michael Ward
At ‘Our Big Kitchen’ a Jewish-run community commercial cooking centre, there is a different type of flood. A flood of volunteers is creating a feeling of togetherness, positivity and community to match the sense of helplessness so many are experiencing as victims of the disaster wreaked by freak downpours and heavy winds.
Students of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities joined in the efforts to cook and bake for their fellow Australians in need. Students were from Masada College, Galstaun Armenian School, Ravenswood, Australian Islamic College, and Corpus Christie. The students were brought together by the organisation “Together for Humanity” led by Rabbi Zalman Kastel for Harmony Day, an annual event hosted by OBK,
Their day of volunteering in the kitchen helped them break down racial stereotypes, and gain respect for their cultural differences. Through conversation and working together for a shared goal, the students were able to focus on their similarities and recognize what unites us as fellow Australians.
OBK is part of the NSW counter disaster response group and has responded to many natural disasters in the past.
OBK CEO Rabbi Dr Dovid Slavin told J-Wire: “It is wonderful to see children working together as flooding does not choose or discriminate.”
Willing helpers
OBK with continue to make meals and please book via our website or come in daily 3-5 PM
