Representation for Beta Israel in the Pageant Scene
The Beta Israel community had been in Ethiopia for thousands of years, but they were only recognized by Israel in 1973, by the Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yosef.
The name Beta Israel means House of Israel. It is traditionally said by their community that Beta Israelis descended from Queen Sheba and King Solomon. Rabbi Yosef’s pronouncement, increased persecution, and subsequent famine and civil war in Ethiopia led to the introduction of Operation Moses in 1984, a covert initiative to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel. They trekked across Ethiopia to the Sudanese border, where they stayed in refugee camps, waiting to be transported out. Almost a third of these migrants tragically died on the way to the border. Operation Moses was followed by a series of similar efforts over the next few decades.
Despite the massive effort to bring the Ethiopian Jews to Israel, they continue to face discrimination. During the weekly Gaza border protests in 2019, people driving by yelled, “Go back to Africa!” at the Ethiopian Jews participating in the demonstrations. Today, Ethiopian Jews suffer from the highest poverty rate among Jews in Israel, and are more likely to be stopped and searched, arrested, and incarcerated.
One Ethiopian immigrant to Israel, Yityish “Titi” Aynaw, would grow up to become the first Black woman to be crowned as Miss Israel in 2013. She left Ethiopia with her brother in 2003, shortly after becoming an orphan. She was 12 years old when she made Aliyah to Israel, where she joined her grandparents.
When Aynaw was 22, her friend signed her up to audition as a way to combat the racism they were experiencing as members of the Beta Israel community. Aynaw hoped that if she won, she could use the Miss Israel pageant to open the eyes of her fellow Israeli citizens to their common humanity, nationality, and religion. Aynaw won Miss Israel and landed a chance to compete at the Miss Universe pageant in Russia.
Although pageants have garnered critiques from feminists for being sexist and racist, contestants have used the platform to advocate for social justice issues.
Aynaw didn’t win the Miss Universe pageant, but she succeeded in helping promote positive representation for the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel. While reigning as Miss Israel, she founded and funded “Titi’s Project,” which provides extracurricular activities to Ethiopian kids in Israel. In an interview, she says, “I know that racism and tokenism exist in Israel. I’m not here to complain about it, I’m here to change it.”
Aynaw’s portrait of an Ethiopian Israeli woman in the beauty industry has opened doors for other Black models and encouraged Black women to audition for Miss Israel. She has spread the message that Beta Israelis belong in Israel as much as any other Jewish people.
This piece was written as part of JWA’s Rising Voices Fellowship.
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