Masbia’s Chop Hunger IV that took place on Wednesday, February 8th at the West Side Institutional Synagogue was a sold out, one of a kind culinary event where the ticket holders had a blast! The exclusive event was a friendly juxtaposition of two culinary worlds - up north vs down south, home vs restaurant and non-kosher vs kosher. The chefs on stage were cookbook author Naomi Ross of Long Island, representing up north as well as kosher home cooking, and restaurateur Micah Seavers of Kentucky, representing down south and non-kosher restaurant cooking.

The Masbia Relief Team, led by Alexander Rapaport, and COJO of Flatbush led by Leon Goldenberg, distributed brand-new coats, clothing, and shoes to newly-settled asylum-seekers in the neighborhood. Over 100 families, many of them with children, were served. Every bag had a message printed on them: “With love from the Jewish community.” Boro Park’s NYC council member Alexa Avilés also joined the event.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) has a longstanding partnership with UJA-Federation of New York, so much so that the former hosted their annual congressional breakfast in the Midtown East UJA Conference Center, just a couple blocks from the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. The past Sunday morning’s annual gathering of New York’s congressional representatives, senators, and elected officials, as well as citywide community stakeholders, was a resounding success. The breakfast succeeded in allowing our Federal representatives to showcase their perspectives and answer questions about issues relevant to the New York Jewish community.