The story of Satmar Bikur Cholim.
Founded in 1952 in a home kitchen. Today, its Kosher Rooms Division keeps the Kosher rooms of most New York City hospitals, plus hospitals and mental health centers across New York stocked, day and night.
A Rebbetzin, a home kitchen, and three words.
In 1952, Rebbetzin Alte Feiga Teitelbaum ע״ה saw Jewish patients in New York’s hospitals, far from home and without food they could eat. She began to cook for them in a home kitchen, and carried the food to the hospitals herself.
When the first call reached her new office, it was answered with three words that became the motto of Satmar Bikur Cholim, the Ladies Bikur Cholim, and remain its spirit today.
״קען איך העלפן?״
Can I help you?
Seven decades of care.
From a single kitchen to the Kosher rooms of New York’s hospitals.
- 1952
A home kitchen
The Rebbetzin founds Satmar Bikur Cholim, bringing home-cooked kosher food to New York’s hospitals.
- Bedford Avenue
A kitchen that grew
As the work grows, it moves into a larger commercial kitchen on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.
- Many communities
Bikur Cholim takes root
The work of Bikur Cholim reaches Boro Park, Monsey, Monroe, Flatbush and beyond, each community served by its own local organization.
- Today
The Kosher Rooms Division
In Williamsburg, the work devoted to the hospital Kosher rooms is carried by the Kosher Rooms Division, in most New York City hospitals, plus hospitals and mental health centers across New York.
What families find waiting.
Patients and the families at their side find kosher food at any hour, in the room set aside for it inside the hospital.
Under the green canopy, every meal comes together.
Behind these green doors is the home of the Kosher Rooms Division: a bright prep space where every meal for the hospital Kosher rooms is warmed, plated, packed and labeled.
- 01Warmed
- 02Plated
- 03Packed
- 04Labeled
56 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Fresh, from trusted caterers
Hot and cold dishes from high-quality caterers and food companies, prepared and packed in Williamsburg and brought in by volunteers several times a week.
Open at every hour
Snacks, drinks, cakes and cut fruit on the shelves around the clock, through the longest nights.
Shabbos and Yom Tov
A complete Shabbos menu and Yom Tov meals, so a hospital stay never means a holy day without them.
Given with dignity
Free of charge, with no forms and no questions, in the spirit the Rebbetzin began with.
Carried forward by volunteers.
Volunteers who prepare, pack, drive and help in the office keep the Kosher rooms stocked, week after week, from Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn.
- Founded
- 1952
- NYC hospitals
- Most
- Servings each week
- 10,000
- Open
- 24/7
Be part of the next chapter.
Sponsor a day in the Kosher rooms, or join the volunteers who keep them full.