2005 - present

Our Big Kitchen (OBK) is a not-for-profit enterprise based in Bondi that produces meals for people in need. Rabbi Dr Dovid Slavin and Laya Slavin opened the doors on the kosher kitchen in February 2005.

Their first kitchen – from which the idea for OBK grew – was borrowed from a friend so they could prepare meals for a very unwell community member and her family. A group of volunteers was enlisted to help cook for the family. The group found the experience invigorating and planning began to expand the enterprise.

Inspired by the work of the Russian-born American Orthodox Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Rabbi Slavin began transforming the basement of the Yeshiva Centre at Bondi into a large-scale industrial kitchen. He had little money and received no government funding. Instead, he inspired tradespeople from not only the Jewish community but Greeks and Italians to donate their services.

Work began in early 2001, with excavators digging down deep into rock. The floor was poured by concreters on 11 September 2001, just as the devastating attacks on the United States occurred. Workers on the project applauded the rabbi for donning a hard hat when extra help was needed.

By 2021, OBK’s community-run, non-denominational engine room was preparing and distributing more than 250,000 meals with the help of more than 33 charities. OBK describes its mission as ‘nourishing, educating, empowering and supporting people in need and always with love’.

“We are able to do this through meaningful volunteering experiences. We offer a safe, non-judgemental environment where people from all walks of life can connect through doing good. Food and giving meals are the positive end result but the journey of how the meal was made is just as important."

Another aspect of their mission is a program that helps new mothers overcome post-natal depression. In February 2009, OBK organised large-scale community cooking for victims of the Black Saturday bushfires.

It also focuses on food rescue and works with organisations including Foodbank and SecondBite to minimise waste and turn fresh produce into home cooked meals, which are distributed to many shelters across NSW.

Courtesy Our Big Kitchen and Waverley Library Local Studies Collection.