Rabbi Impresses on ‘Chopped’ TV

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Itzik Roytman

Rabbi Hanoch Hecht leaned with his arms crossed on a textured wall of the Edison Ballroom in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan and watched himself on the large screen.

He kept a straight face and remained motionless as his name was announced by the narrator of the American reality cooking television game show series, Chopped.

The Chabad rabbi from Rhinebeck, NY, was one of the clergy competing on a special segment on the Food Network titled “Leap of Faith” and premiered across the country, and in this ballroom, on June 21.

On screen, the rabbi was energetic and entertaining as he faced a priest, a nun-in-training and a pastor for a chance to win the grand prize of $10,000.

“I will be the first rabbi to be the champion and to receive a Mazal Tov from the judges,” said Hecht, who taught about kosher to students of the Culinary Institute of America, headquartered near his home in Hyde Park, NY.

While the crowd in the ballroom cheered him on, Hecht himself was tight-lipped on the result of the grueling competition. Filming began at 6:00 AM and only ended late in the evening, he recalled.

“It doesn’t matter the outcome. Either way, I’m the winner,” Hecht commented to COLlive.com during the airing. “I had the opportunity to be the first Rabbi on Chopped. I competed at the highest level, and still kept the highest standard of Kashrus.”

Indeed, while he had all his own utensils – specially labeled, Hecht pointed out – since the television show’s kitchen was not sterilized kosher, Hecht wasn’t able to taste the dishes he was being judged on.

“I was the only contestant who couldn’t taste any of my food, and had to rely on the person next to me to tell me how it tastes,” he said, jokingly adding, “even though I think she was lying to me.”

The audience surrounding Hecht applauded each time the judges complimented one of his dishes and cheered with each round he was not eliminated.

His wife, Tzivie Hecht, stood nearby.

“After we got married, Hanoch taught me everything I know about cooking,” she said, noting that as the daughter of Shluchim in Syracuse, NY, she attended school away from home and “never really spent time learning how to cook.”

“Hanoch really does much of the cooking in our home,” she said. “When I leave for the Kinus convention, I don’t have to prepare a thing. He has it all taken care of.”

So how did he do? (spoiler alert!)

Sporting a red yarmulka and a black apron, Hecht made it through 2 rounds in the competition. He was finally was left in a showdown with a female pastor as they each created a dessert out of dates, vegetables and hamentaschen.

While the judges praised Hecht’s dessert for its presentation and taste, he was nevertheless eliminated.

But Hecht hardly seemed disappointed that he was not the winner, as his family and friends gathered around him to congratulate him for a great show.

Having used humor and sharing nuggets about Kosher cooking and Judaism throughout the show, Hecht stated: “The main thing is, I brought an awareness of Kosher to the world. I hope I made a Kiddush Hashem.”