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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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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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