Faces of Israel: Meet our new Miss Israel, Yityish Aynaw

Yityish (Titi) Aynaw is Miss Israel 2013 and will represent Israel at the November Miss Universe Pageant. Israel is very proud of this poised young woman who has overcome tremendous adversity.

Aynaw was born in Chahawit, a small village in northern Ethiopia, near the city of Gondar. Orphaned at age 12, she arrived in Israel with her brother to live with their Ethiopian Jewish grandparents. Like the estimated 125,000 Ethiopian Jews who have come to Israel, Aynaw struggled to assimilate into her new environment.

As Titi stated during an interview with the BBC, "I was raised by my grandmother. Nothing was handed to me on a plate. I had to work very hard and long to achieve things in my life. I felt a responsibility to prove myself in everything I did and to improve myself as well."

She became student council president, excelled in track and field, and won first place in a national student film competition. After graduation, she joined the army, and became responsible for training 90 soldiers, teaching them how to fire a weapon, perform security checks, and to detect bombs.

In less than a decade, Yityish Aynaw went from a orphan in Ethiopia to having dinner with the president of the United States. She is a true Israeli success story.
                                  

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