Chef/author/food raconteur Anthony Bourdain tragically died last week. Bourdain, whose mother was Jewish but who had no religious upbringing or beliefs, was seen as a uniter, using food and dining to bring people together. About whom did Anthony Bourdain once say “I’d be happy to rearrange your knee or other extremities.”?
Anthony Bourdain by Peabody Awards is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A. In 2003, Bourdain filmed an episode of the Travel Channel show No Reservations about kosher slaughtering, at the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa. While there, he was invited to the wedding of the son of the plant’s mashgiach (head kosher supervisor). Bourdain said the above words to a young Chasid who attempted to drag him into the hora dance.
B. In 2013, Bourdain visited Israel to film his CNN show, Parts Unknown. While in Jerusalem, he visited the Western Wall, where he said these words in response to a rabbi who aggressively attempted to get him to put on tefillin.
C. Last year, Bourdain tweeted these words in response to an anti-Semitic tweet that former KKK leader David Duke posted about him.
D. Bourdain’s visit to Israel in 2013 angered many Jews and Israelis because he traveled and filmed on the West Bank and in Gaza. He said these words to an Israeli who angrily reproached him in Tel Aviv after Bourdain returned from the Gaza visit.
E. On a 2006 visit to a kosher slaughterhouse, Bourdain said these words to a cow whose flatulence enveloped him.