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09/11/2018
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By Ellen Futterman, Editor 4 hrs ago
Last Thursday I had an opportunity to interview not one, but two, former Miss Israel winners — Yityish “Titi” Aynaw, Miss Israel 2013, and Linor Abargil, who was crowned in 1998 and went on to become Miss World later that year. No other Israeli has won that title.
Aynaw, 27, also is an Israeli first — the first Ethiopian-born Jew and first black — to win the Miss Israel contest. I caught up with her during her fourth tour of U.S. colleges, sponsored by Jewish National Fund and Media Watch International. She had spoken at Washington University the night before and was due at University of Missouri-Columbia later in the day.
In addition to her pageant titles, Abargil, 38, is a lawyer, actress, model, wife and mother of three. She was the featured speaker at “L’Chaim! Women Changing the World,” which drew 800 women to the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton last Thursday night. Women’s Philanthropy of Jewish Federation of St. Louis presented the event.
Coincidentally, both Aynaw and Abargil grew up in Netanya, a city in northern Israel. Aynaw came there with her brother from Ethiopia’s Gondar Province to live with their grandparents when she was 12 years old; she had lost both her parents by age 9.
On the tour, Aynaw, now a model, shares her story of growing up in Ethiopia as a Jew and then realizing, after moving to Israel, “that most Jews aren’t black. That we are the smallest community in the Jewish world.” After moving, she had to first learn to speak Hebrew, which took her only a few months. “But to read and write it took me years,” she said. “Hebrew is not an easy language.”
She talks about her service in the Israel Defense Forces, where she was a commander to soldiers at checkpoints in Jerusalem. “I was the only girl in my platoon,” she said, explaining that while it wasn’t easy, “it is all green in the army. Color and gender doesn’t matter much.”
More than anything, Aynaw hopes to draw attention to the positive goings-on in the Jewish State, which she says is “the most welcoming place, with opportunities for everyone.” She started “Titi’s Project” in Netanya, an after-school program that provides educational and social activities to youngsters to help them stay focused and out of trouble.
“My big dream is to see this program in every city in Israel,” she said as she drank tea at the Hampton Inn near the airport. “It seems to be making a difference in helping these kids do better in school.”
As it turns out, Abargil is one of Aynaw’s role models. When she heard the 1998 Miss Israel and Miss World would be in St. Louis that night, Aynaw wondered out loud if she could make it to Mizzou and back in time to hear Abargil speak.
No such luck, but for those of us who were there, she did not disappoint. Her story, which is the focus of a 2013 documentary called “Brave Miss World,” tells of her rape by a travel agent on the outskirts of Milan, Italy, several weeks before she was crowned Miss World. She was raped at knifepoint in a BMW at the age of 18. She promised she would never say anything about the attack if her rapist would let her go.
After winning the Miss World pageant, Abargil knew she had to press charges and not stay quiet. “Being famous (after winning Miss World) gave me the platform to speak out against sexual violence in the hopes of helping others,” Abargil told me in an interview before the L’Chaim event.
Our conversation drifted to the #MeToo movement, and the fact that many prominent women stayed quiet about their assaults for so long.
“I am still surprised when they speak out and don’t say the name of their attacker,” said Abargil. “I understand and I don’t blame them because I know how they may feel ashamed or scared of repercussions. But I feel it’s important to speak out, and name names, so that another woman won’t be hurt. We have a responsibility in 2018 to do more.”
“Brave Miss World” will be shown at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 at the J’s Arts and Education Building, followed by a panel discussion at 3:30. The cost is $10 and free to Jewish Film Society members but an RSVP is required to 314-442-3175. The film is also available on Netflix.
Like Aynaw, Abargil is an unofficial ambassador for Israel, calling it “the most beautiful country in the world.”
“We don’t take anything for granted. That’s why Israeli people are happy people, living a full life,” she said. “How we are depicted in the news and what Israel is all about are two different things. We understand every minority in the world because we are a country of so many (minorities) and welcoming of all.”
A moving story
The story behind the “swap” of the buildings of Kol Rinah synagogue in University City and the Journey church in Clayton has been told in an excellent HEC video by freelance journalist Paul Schankman. To view it, go to www.stljewishlight.com/swap.
Registration open for Jewish-Muslim service event
Registration is now open for the Eighth Annual Jewish and Muslim Day of Community Service on Tuesday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day).
Organizers this year have decided to expand the program by adding a potluck lunch and educational classes. Class topics this year are:
• Faith & The Environment: What Our Practices Tell Us About Saving the Planet;
• Muslim & Jewish Holidays 101
• Immigration Stories: The Journey to the United States for Muslims and Jews;
• Children’s Storytelling Time.
A Jewish and a Muslim leader will teach each class. The potluck is a chance to bring a food from your family, country of origin, or religion and share that with others.
To register, go to www.jewishmuslimdayofservicestl.org and choose the site where you would like to volunteer. Spaces are limited at some of the sites, so it’s best to register early.
Postscript from Kibitz Café
In a previous column (Oct. 24) about Kibitz Café hosted by MOSHE — the Men of Shaare Emeth — patron Carl Moskowitz remarked that the only thing missing from the monthly Sunday breakfast, open to the public, was a copy of the New York Times.
Be careful what you ask for. At this month’s café on Nov. 4, one MOSHE volunteer made it a point to bring Moskowitz his paper.
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