The South Florida Community Voice Cholent Championship
By Motti Kallus, Head of Operations, South Florida Community Voice Magazine
The morning after the Cholent Challenge, my feet were sore and my voice was tired. But what stayed with me wasn’t the exhaustion. It was the image of hundreds of Jews from across South Florida standing shoulder to shoulder, laughing, tasting, reconnecting, and feeling part of something bigger than themselves.
What we hosted this week was not just a food event.
It was community in its purest form.
About a year ago, we asked ourselves a simple question at Community Voice Magazine: What kind of event could truly bring South Florida’s Jewish communities together without speeches, without politics, without heavy programming — just something joyful and unifying?
If you don’t live here, you might not realize how spread out we are. From Palm Beach Gardens to Miami can easily take two hours (and with traffic, even longer.) Within that stretch, you have distinct neighborhoods, different levels of observance, and communities that rarely overlap in daily life.
You have Hasidic families, Modern Orthodox families, Traditional Jews. And many unaffiliated Jews who still feel deeply connected to their heritage.
South Florida’s Jewish population is large, but it’s dispersed. We wanted one night where Boca meets Miami Beach. Where North Miami Beach meets West Palm.
Where observant and less-observant Jews stand side by side.
Cholent felt like the perfect vehicle: It’s simple. It’s traditional. It’s shared history in a bowl.
Last year, we jumped right in and began planning only weeks before the event. We underestimated electrical loads. We split power across the building. We spent the entire night before the event checking crockpots and praying nothing would trip.
We expected maybe 200 or 300 people. The turnout exceeded expectations and the energy in the
room was undeniable. People lingered and talked and exchanged numbers. They asked when we were doing it again. That’s when we knew this couldn’t be a onetime idea. It had to become a tradition.
This year, we planned earlier, so we built smarter and elevated the experience.
Attendance grew dramatically — we estimate between 800 and 1,000 people throughout the evening. At one point, the hall was filled edge to edge. We went
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through more than 4,000 tasting bowls.
But what impressed me most wasn’t the numbers. It was the quality. The cholents were better. The cooking system improved. The chefs collaborated instead of competed. On Wednesday night, when they came to prepare, it felt like its own celebration — music, fresh-cut meat on site, chefs helping each other, lending utensils and ingredients.
There was no ego in the room. Only pride. It felt less like a contest — and more like a reunion.
One of the things we are proud of at Community Voice Magazine is the relationships we build. We don’t just publish content, we connect with people.
This year’s Cholent Cook-Off featured an extraordinary panel of judges:
Alan Dershowitz – Renowned Constitutional Lawyer, Author & Harvard Law Professor Emeritus, known for his expertise in civil liberties
Steven Meiner – Mayor of Miami Beach
Yechiel Jacobs – Comedian and influencer
Zalmy Cohen – Founder of Hatzalah South Florida; living kidney donor
Rabbi Yochanan Klein – Founder and Director of Healing Hearts
Moshe Gubin – Chairman, Optimum Bank
Tzvi Berg – Founder, Royal Passover and culinary master
Sruly Meyer – Owner of SMG, a marketing firm; on the side he enjoys baking & cooking on @srulycooks
Yankie Markowitz - SBA Loan Group
out Tefillin & Mezuzahs to those who need via TefillinConnection.
These weren’t just recognizable names. They represented leadership, philanthropy, business, entertainment, and public service within our broader Jewish world. One moment that stood out to many of us was watching Alan Dershowitz taste all 33 cholents. He also gave a brief speech connecting his role in judging a cholent contest to the parsha and joking that he observed Taanit Cholent all day in preparation for the Cook-Off.
Throughout the evening, I kept noticing something powerful.
Hasidic Jews speaking with secular Jews. Modern Orthodox families sitting with people they had never met before. Doctors, business leaders, educators — all in the same room, without titles, just participants.
In South Florida, many Jews are
not formally affiliated — but they are proud. They feel connected. They want meaning. And for one night, everyone felt it. No speeches were necessary. No formal messaging was required.
When Jews gather around a dish their great-grandparents made hundreds of years ago, something unspoken happens - it reminds us that we are one people.
Next year, we will continue to grow — but thoughtfully.
It’s not about simply increasing numbers. It’s about refining the experience. Enhancing quality while strengthening the bridge between communities.
What started as an idea has become something much bigger. A yearly gathering. A reunion. A tradition. Because big things happen when Jews sit around a bowl of cholent.
And this year, we saw exactly that.
Motti Kallus Head of Operations Community Voice Magazine
JJ Eleff - Co-Runs DansDeals; gives
