Travel Channel star Adam Richman visited Israel this week, sharing many emotional moments from the trip with his fans on social media.
The gastronaut, who often – and proudly – mentions his Jewish heritage on his shows, was on a private visit to Israel with his mother. Through Twitter posts and Instagram stories, he took fans along as he toured Masada, Acre, the Dead Sea, Safed, Caesarea, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem in what was his first visit to Israel.
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In a heartfelt Instagram post on Monday, the Brooklyn native shared with fans his experience visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, something he said that he had been waiting for since 1987.
"My grandfather had wanted to take my family to Jerusalem to have my bar mitzvah at the Western Wall. A terror attack months before scrapped the whole idea," Richman wrote.
"I was unprepared for the scope of emotion. I kid you not – the moment I laid my palm upon the bricks, I began to weep. Being there, at the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, so close to the observance of the Tisha B'Av holiday, where we commemorate the destruction of the temples, you could feel, even among the other
worshipers, that this was a very special time."
"I felt connected to the tradition of the past and to the spirit of the Holy Land – not just for Jews, but for Christians and Muslims as well. … I can only say I walked away from that wall feeling very different than the man who had walked up to it," he wrote.
Richman, 45, a self-educated food expert, rose to fame with the Travel Channel's now-iconic show "Man v. Food" (2008-2012). The runaway success birthed multiple semi-sequels such as "Fandemonium," "Amazing Eats" and "Best Sandwich in America."
In 2014, NBC tapped Richman to host the cooking showdown "Food Fighters," which pitted home cooks against culinary professionals. Most recently, he has been hunting for clandestine delights on "Secret Eats," a Travel Channel show taking Richman on the ultimate quest to uncover the most unique off-the-menu items around the world, often hiding in places that you'd least expect.
In 2018, Richman partnered with award-winning TV personality and food expert Andrew Zimmern on "Slice," taking viewers "around the world on an eating adventure seeking out the greatest slices of local food and culture," as production company Escapade Media, described it.
Richman is the author of two books, "America the Edible: A Hungry History, from Sea to Dining Sea" (2010) which tackles the ins and outs of American cuisine, and "Straight Up Tasty: Meals, Memories, and Mouthfuls from My Travels," his first cookbook, which debuted in 2015.
His latest venture is a collaboration with the History Channel, taking part in "The Food that Built America," delving into fascinating stories of the families behind the foods that can now be found in virtually every home in the United States.
Richman is involved with multiple charities. In 2018, he was inducted into the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame, which seeks, according to its mission statement, "to promote access to information, documentation, and understanding related to the diversity of the Brooklyn Jewish community currently and in the past, and to provide opportunities for communicating, disseminating, preserving, and celebrating Brooklyn Jewish life and culture."
