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Jewish Chef Competes on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ With Star of David Necklace
Chef Uri Elbaum competing on season 23 of “Hell’s Kitchen.” Photo: Screenshot
Season 23 of “Hell’s Kitchen” premiered on Fox on Thursday night, and one of the contestants is a Jewish chef from Long Branch, New Jersey, who appeared in the premiere episode wearing a Star of David necklace.
Chef Uri Elbaum — who had a Chabad upbringing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before moving to the US — also has Star of David tattoos on both arms and a tattoo on his left forearm that says in Hebrew “Ahava,” which means love. The 28-year-old is the executive chef of the kosher restaurants The Butcher’s Steakhouse and Primavera in the Deal, New Jersey, area, and has also cooked on Passover programs.
“It’s a beautiful thing for me that I can make food for my people in kosher restaurants,” Elbaum previously said, as reported by the blog YeahThatsKosher. “What’s the first thing a Jew does before he eats? Makes a bracha [blessing]. What’s the last thing he does before he leaves? Makes a bracha. Having people say a bracha on my food is a great feeling.”
He also said that before participating in season 23 of “Hell’s Kitchen,” “My rabbi told me to both make the Jews watching at home proud of me and to remember that I should be proud to be Jewish.”
For the first time in the history of the show, the new season of “Hell’s Kitchen” was filmed on the east coast and the competitors are all head chefs of their respective restaurants. The competition took place at Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurant inside the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. The winner of season 23 will become head chef of Ramsay’s restaurant in Foxwoods and will also take home a prize of $250,000.
In the premiere episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” on Thursday, Ramsey asked the 18 contestants to create a signature dish in 40 minutes that represented who they are as chefs. Ramsey would then score the dishes on a scale of 1-5. The contestants were divided into two teams — nine female chefs are in the Red Team, with season 17 winner Michelle Tribble as their the sous chef, and nine male chefs are in the Blue Team, with James Avery as their sous chef.
For the first challenge, Elbaum cooked a handmade pappardelle pasta dish with an umami cream sauce that had mushrooms, ricotta cheese, lime zest, and scallions. Ramsey complimented Elbaum on the perfectly cooked pasta and the flavors in the dish, which he gave four points. However, Elbaum’s Blue Team lost the challenge overall. The Red Team was awarded the opportunity to dine at the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in Foxwoods Resort Casino, along with Ramsey himself, while the Blue Team was forced to work in the kitchen cleaning dishes, and unloading and stocking deliveries.
Elbaum previously said he had dreamed of being a contestant on “Hell’s Kitchen.”
“When I was a little kid, I used to watch Gordon Ramsey on ‘Hell’s Kitchen.’ I really wanted to be there. I saw myself doing it,” he shared with the blog YeahThatsKosher. “I felt honored to be selected, but it’s all because of Hashem. I used to say that one day I’d be on TV cooking with Gordon Ramsey. People looked at me like I was joking. It was like a kid who says they are going to be an astronaut and go to space.”
He also revealed that he visited the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the day before filming “Hell’s Kitchen” and the day after the show finished because “it was my way of showing how thankful I was for the opportunity.”
“Hell’s Kitchen” airs on Fox on Thursday nights at 8 pm ET, and episodes will stream on Hulu the next day.
The post Jewish Chef Competes on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ With Star of David Necklace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.