ByJessica Elgot, Jessica Elgot
Chabad Lubavitch volunteers are offering Redbridge residents a specialist Pesach provisions outlet in Cranbrook Road.
Since the closure of Brownstein’s delicatessen last year, Redbridge Jews have had to rely on mainstream supermarkets for their kosher groceries.
The Chabad venture offers a wide variety of kosher food and drink and home delivery can be arranged.
“We have not had a kosher grocery shop in the area for some time now, although there are a few kosher butchers and a bakery,” local Chabad director Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin pointed out. “Many people go to North London for food.”
When premises became available, Chabad moved in with a dual aim. The first was to make kosher food more widely available — “and because our shop is run by volunteers, we can provide it as cheaply as possible.
“The second is to cheer up the community here. There’s palpable excitement about this. We’ve had interest from as far afield as Southend and Cambridge and we’re already having to restock.” Any profits will go to Chabad funds.
Making the shop permanent would depend on attracting sufficient volunteers, Rabbi Sufrin added.