Meet The Babka King: How an African American Foodie became an Unlikely Jewish Advocate 

In a world fractured by division, one man stands tall, wielding nothing but a loaf of babka and an unyielding heart.

Chris Caresnone, known to his 470,800 TikTok and 159,000 Instagram followers as the “Babka King,” is a hero not for capes or conquests, but for his fearless celebration of Jewish culture in the face of venomous antisemitism.

From his first bite of cinnamon-sugar babka in June 2024 to his viral April 9, 2025, Instagram reel, Caresnone has transformed a simple love for food into a defiant stand against hate, proving that connection can triumph over cruelty.

Born Chris Campbell in Wheeling, Illinois, Caresnone adopted his moniker to shrug off negativity, a shield forged from his battle with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, diagnosed in 2020. “I’m living my life on a freeroll,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, his voice brimming with gratitude for a second chance. That chance led him to food, a universal language he speaks fluently, from Mexican pozole to Vietnamese pho.

But it was babka, sent by Half Moon Rondout Café in Kingston, New York, that crowned him king. “I opened the box, and this waft of cinnamon and sugar hit me in the face,” he recalled to Fox News Digital. “I’m like, this is crazy.” He speaks of babka like a poet, calling it “beautiful, flowy, and braided,” its layers a metaphor for the cultures he seeks to unite.

His journey through Jewish cuisine, rugelach at Shalom Kosher Bakery, pastrami at Katz’s Deli, a kosher burger at The House of Glatt, has been met with open arms. “The warmth I’ve gotten from the Jewish community is unreal,” he told The Times of Israel in January 2025. “I’ve been invited to Shabbat dinners and rabbis’ houses.”

He’s collaborated with Babka Bailout in New Jersey, crafting peach cobbler and birria babkas, blending Black and Jewish flavors. His dream meal is a pastrami sandwich, cholent, and, of course, babka. (LOL!) This is a man who lives to break bread, believing, as he told Aish, “If you’re breaking bread with people, it’s hard to hate them.”

Yet, for every warm embrace, there’s a shadow of hate. Caresnone’s April 9, 2025, Instagram reel laid bare the cost of his love for Jewish food. “I’ve done all the cultures,” he said, listing Italian, Indian, Polish, even Palestinian cuisine. “I see the most negative comments on my Jewish content.” Accusations of being paid by Israeli lobbyists, vile slurs, and death threats, these are the barbs hurled at a man daring to enjoy a pastry. “The antisemitism that I have personally felt… is real,” he said.

“There’s only 14 million Jewish people on Earth, y’all, and I can see why they’re always in fear.” The threats, he told Fox News Digital, were “the most heinous things I’ve ever heard,” yet he refused to flinch. “What kind of person would I be if I have a platform and I don’t say nothing?” he asked, choosing to double down on his Jewish food tastings.

This is heroism, raw and unpolished. Caresnone, a non-Jewish outsider, sees what many ignore: the relentless targeting of Jewish culture. His April reel, spread by X users like @Israellycool, exposed the “anti-Zionists-not-antisemites” who swarm his posts, proving their hatred isn’t about politics but prejudice. “I’m not here to feed conflict: I’m here to feed connection,” he wrote, signing off with his defiant “CARESNONE.”

He’s raised funds for Israeli medical services during the war, a quiet act of solidarity, and continues to share Jewish delicacies, challah, sufganiyot, matzah ball soup, while admitting gefilte fish isn’t his jam. “Half the Jewish people in my comments were like, ‘Even we don’t eat this,’” he laughed.

Caresnone’s stand isn’t about picking sides in cinnamon versus chocolate babka (he loves both) or wading into geopolitics, he’s clear his fight isn’t “the conflict” but the hate itself. His platform, built on lightness and warmth, as The Times of Israel noted, carries no “hateful bone.” Yet, when faced with death threats, he didn’t retreat.

He posted a video tasting Palestinian knafeh, showing his heart is big enough for all, but the hate for his Jewish content “pales in comparison,” he said. This is a man who, after tasting Sephardic laffa wraps and Israeli salad, dares to dream of a world where food fosters unity, not division.

In a time when antisemitism surges, from doxxing Australian Jewish creatives to boycotts at Georgetown University, Caresnone’s courage shines brighter. He’s not just the Babka King, he’s a breath of fresh babke air, proving that one voice, armed with love for a braided loaf, can challenge a tide of hate. As he told Algemeiner, “The Jewish culture has embraced me in ways that others haven’t.” For that, he fights on, one delicious bite at a time.