Miss World, Miss Israel, Miss 21st Century

The 2006 Miss World Contest will be held on September 30.  Although the other competitors are not chopped liver, Israel has a pretty formidable contestant, with a beautiful name:  Yael Nezri, an 18 year old student, already rated “hot” by the leading beauty pageant blog.

But it is not the picture (or at least not only the picture) that occasions this post.  It is the description of Yael on the Miss World site:

Yael was born and grew up in a small town, Kiryat-Shmona, situated in the north of Israel.  Her family is from the combination of two cultures:  Holland from her mother’s side and Morocco from her father’s side; she has two older sisters. 

Yael has just graduated from high-school and is looking forward to having an academic education in one of Israel’s universities; her dream is to be a successful model.  She enjoys:  working out, reading, watching TV, and listening to music.  Her favorite food is spaghetti. 

Personal motto is:  “To benefit from each moment in life and always see the bright side of everything”.  She is a very optimistic person.

Kiryat Shmona.  At the northernmost tip of Israel, a mile from Lebanon.  The area subjected to endless terrorist attacks over the years, the target this year of ceaseless rocket fire, at times over 80 a day, in the Hezbollah war, 20,000 of the 25,000 residents evacuated from their homes, the remaining 5,000 (without the financial means or assistance to flee) living in underground shelters for a month. 

But Yael Nezri is a very optimistic person, and this week she is competing for Miss World.  Beauty, youth and optimism, from Kiryat Shmona, after a barbaric war. 

She may not win the 2006 Miss World Contest.  Israel may not have lost, but certainly did not win, its 2006 war with Hezbollah.  But in the war of ideas and accomplishments, in the battle between the forces of life and those of death, between the armies of decency and those of barbaric cruelty, between the 21st century and the 7th century, Israel has already won.  And Yael is a small but significant symbol.

It is part of what gives one hope that the Prayer for 5767, by another beautiful daughter of Israel, can come true.

Caroline Glick