Centuries-old Jerusalem soup kitchen serves up ‘food with dignity’

July 26, 2023

By Taylor Luck

JERUSALEM- Rana steps off Al Wad Street onto a winding narrow stairway, following an almost-hidden passage in the labyrinthine Old City that has led to generosity for nearly 500 years.

Carrying two bucket pails and a shopping bag packed with empty Tupperware, she passes Mameluke-era architecture as part of her daily route – a journey to feed her family.

“This is where we get food with dignity,” says the mother of three. “This is where the Holy City’s generosity is always kept warm.”

Tikiya Khaski al-Sultan, a soup kitchen that has been serving up meals since the height of the Ottoman Empire, is a lifeline for modern-day Jerusalemites who face rising costs and unemployment and are in need of “support without judgment.”

Yet the centuries-old charity also serves up some “good cooking.”

“This isn’t canned food or handouts,” Rana says. “This is a meal for all.”

A Woman of Influence

The Tikiya soup kitchen and sprawling complex were built on a hill facing the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount in 1552 on the order of Roxelana, wife of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman II.

With a reputation for generosity, a kind heart, and a strategic mind, Roxelana, one of the most influential women in the history of the Ottoman Empire, established the soup kitchen and guesthouse to serve travelers, students, religious scholars, residents, and disadvantaged people. It was not only to highlight Jerusalem’s hospitality, but also to cement residents’ dependence on the Ottomans, who had extended their rule over the Holy City 35 years prior.

The complex once included an orphanage, guesthouse, and a school; today, the 16th-century complex and courtyard has 25 rooms, a school, large domes, views of the Old City – and a bustling kitchen.

On a Monday morning, chickens are boiling in giant aluminum vats; delivery boys are stacking crates of tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers in the high-vaulted stone room; and head chef Samir Jaber is frantically checking his inventory, doing calculations for ingredient ratios.

Much has changed over the ages.

The Jordanian government now manages the kitchen at the direction of the Hashemite monarchy.

Centuries ago, the soup kitchen served up a cracked wheat porridge, known as dahsheesha, or tikiya soup; today, the kitchen serves full meals. Instead of feeding individual visitors, it provides food to be taken home for entire families.

And it caters to Jerusalemites’ discerning palates with a sense of mission.

“We want people to eat just as we eat at home,” Mr. Jaber says as he checks on the chickens.

“Jerusalem is a home for all of mankind, which makes this the world’s kitchen. We are making home-cooked food for humanity.”

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