Bess Myerson (pictured at right) was the only Jewish Miss America, winning the crown in 1945. She went on to stand up to anti-Semitism, served as Ed Koch’s mayoral campaign chair, ran for Senate in 1977 and raised over a million dollars for Israel.
America was abuzz when the 2011 Miss America pageant included a nice Jewish girl to support last Saturday night. Lauren Galler Rabinowitz, the current Miss Massachusetts (pictured below).
Rabinowitz comes loaded with impressive credentials. She is a former champion ice dancer, a Harvard graduate whose been recognized for her poetry and will attend any medical school she likes in pediatrics. She’s a world-class pianist related to Leonard Bernstein, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and has already raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities that benefit sick and hungry children.
“She’s adorable, her teeth are fabulous, and she’s a genuine mensch (too bad Yiddish doesn’t have a feminist version of that word, but let’s say in this era is just means ‘good human being’),” writes US blogger YoYenta.
Lauren didn’t win. Had she, she wouldn’t be the first Jewish Miss America: Bess Myerson shocked the world when she won the crown in 1945, becoming a ‘modern day Queen Esther’ as she stood up to anti-Semitism and bigotry throughout her reign and after.
Bess Myerson went on to work for the Anti-Defamation League, served as Ed Koch’s mayoral campaign chair, ran for Senate in 1977, raised over a million dollars for Israel and worked for the state of New York. She survived ovarian cancer and scandal in the 80’s, and by all accounts, is living out her golden years in Florida.
Miss USA – Lauren Galler Rabinowitz - Miss Massachusetts.jpg
