NEWS In Turin, Kosher Bakery Offers Free Bread to the Needy

By Ada Treves

“Every evening, when we close the bakery, we place all unsold bread in two baskets tied to our outside railing, for those people who might need it. We noticed a similar initiative in another Italian town, and we thought it was a great idea… more and more people are having a hard time, we have noticed it, this is just a small help”. It is with such simplicity Andrea Bertino explains the latest initiative of the only kosher bakery in Turin, an idea in line with the openness and generosity that over the years have made it a true reference point not only for the local Jewish community, but for the entire neighborhood.

The bakery opened eighty years ago, and for more than forty years now not only it bakes kosher bread, pizza, focaccia, cakes and delicious biscuits, but over the time got to selling meat, cold cuts, cheeses and wines, without forgetting special kosher for Passover products before Pesach and candles for Chanukkah. Thus, ensuring the availability of kosher products to the neighboring community, it has become the place where people meet for a chat or to order challot, and Jewish school students flock there everyday at the end of the school day patiently queue for the legendary “focaccia di Bertino”, always the first food to disappear during the party it supplies its products to.

And – as Andrea, the owner, explains – the baskets hanging from the windows are always already empty at about 9 pm, demonstrating the value and the necessity of their simple gesture.