Kosherfest expo at Meadowlands highlights new products
Met council honors OU's Genack
Food vendors from across the world show up at Kosherfest each year with truckloads of free samples. But after the crowds have dissipated and the expo closes shop, what happens to those leftovers?
They are donated to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, the official charity of Kosherfest, which distributes more than 15,000 pounds of leftover food from exhibitors to food pantries with clients who keep kosher.
On Tuesday, the Met Council presented Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of the Orthodox Union’s kashrut division and a resident of Englewood, its Rabbinic Leadership Award for ongoing service and commitment to the Jewish community. “I’ve been able to see the kindness of the man, the fairness of the man,” said Paul Bensabat, co-owner and president of Saveur Food Group, who presented the award to Genack. The OU’s kashrut division would not be what it is today without Genack’s dedication, he continued.
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Genack, religious leader of Cong. Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, praised the work of the Met Council and dismissed the notion that poverty does not exist in the Jewish community. “The hallmark of the Jewish people is philanthropy and chesed [kindness],” said Genack after accepting the award. “The work that Met Council does in feeding the Jewish poor … is truly a blessing to our community.”
For more information on the Met Council, visit www.metcouncil.org.
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