Miss Israel - Gd's Ambassador for Kosher

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   In May, 21-year-old Rotem Rabi, a former Air Force medic and native Jerusalemite [no relation to Rabbi Rabi] was crowned Miss Israel 2017.
   As Israel’s contestant for the Miss World beauty contest she is now in China where she finds herself representing Israel in more ways than one.
   Raised in a traditional, though not strictly observant family, she now keeps strictly Kosher at all times, even when travelling abroad at locales with very little access to Kosher food.
   Her father became observant, and now identifies with the Haredi community.
   China has almost no Kosher food and Rotem, whilst there on a protracted working visit as Miss Israel, had to make do with a very limited diet. She astonished her friends, fellow competitors and officials when she refused the many readily available meals and dinners prepared for the contestants.
   “I’m having difficulty with the food,” she said, “almost nothing here is Kosher. I’m living on pineapple and cookies, and I hope that the problem will be solved in the next few days.”
   Rabi’s adherence to traditional Jewish dietary rules piqued the interest of other contestants, she said, who expressed curiosity about Israel and why she was unable to eat most of the food.
   “The people are fascinated that [I’m Israeli], especially from the fact that I live in Jerusalem. Everyone gets excited and tells me how they know about Israel.”
   “When I explained to them why I can’t eat the food we get served, they were all quite fascinated. But I feel like they don’t really understand still why it is so important for me to keep Kosher.”