Sir Isaac Newton and Judaism
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Miss Israel Noa Cochva never dreamed of pageants—but now she’s using her crown to share Israel’s beauty, courage, and unity with the world.
“Mom, I got an email about a Miss Israel Pageant. Should I try out?” Noa asked her mother after receiving a mysterious acceptance email.
“Oh yeah, I already signed you up!” her mother casually replied.
Noa had never dreamed of entering a pageant, let alone that she could become Miss Israel.
Growing up, she was never into makeup or anything beauty-driven. Noa grew up on a moshav in Israel, surrounded by nature. She’d walk around barefoot amongst animals and go on camping trips with her family. Physical beauty or glamor were not a part of her childhood.
“I was actually pretty nerdy and shy,” she confessed.
As a child, Noa was part of a special program that only the top kids in Israelis school could participate in. The program had a strong focus on technology and biology. She loved to explore and learn.
She was also paralyzed by her shyness and could barely speak to people. But when she joined the IDF, everything changed.
“The military really opens you up and changes your personality. You basically turn into an adult overnight.”
Noa started gaining confidence, but after her release from the Army, she went through a tough break-up with her boyfriend. She was 22, Covid had hit the country, and she was heartbroken. “I was crying in my bed and my mom, trying to cheer me up, decided to sign me up for the Miss Israel Pageant without me knowing. I wasn’t into those types of things. I wanted to learn biology.”
Her mother would always tell her she was beautiful, though—like every mother does. “Every mom thinks their daughter is beautiful. My grandmother used to call me ‘the beauty queen.’”
While Noa never saw herself as beautiful, her mother would always tell her she was beautiful and her grandmother would call her “the beauty queen.”
At first Noa didn’t want to enter the contest. “I thought they would reject me and it would hurt my self-esteem. But my mom said, ‘Just go—for me.’ So I went, just to prove her wrong. I didn’t think I’d pass even one audition, but I kept moving forward, stage after stage. It was so weird—I was surrounded by models. I was just this nerdy, shy girl who didn’t even know she was pretty.”
Noa eventually competed in—and won—the Miss Israel Pageant. “It’s not where I ever planned to be, but here I am.”
She became Miss Universe Israel at the end of 2021, at the age of 23. Then she found out that the Miss Universe competition would take place in Israel in 2022.
Eighty-two women from around the world were coming—each one representing her own country—many with millions of followers. “My job was to show them what it means to be Israeli, what it means to be a woman who served in the military. I wanted to show them that I grew up surrounded by people very different from me, but we lived together in peace.
“Other queens talk about peace—but in Israel, we live it. I feel like I’m a strong woman because I went to war. Not many women do that. That made me unique.”
All of the contestants arrived in Israel on the first night of Hanukkah. Noa told them the story of the holiday—why Jews light candles and what miracles happened. “They had no idea. I realized at that moment that my goal wasn’t to win. My goal was just to teach them everything I can about Israel and the Jewish people and give them a real experience. Not what they see in the media.”
Noa believes she succeeded. The contestants were posting daily positive messages about Israel. Afterward, many of the contestants messaged her saying they couldn’t wait to return to Israel with their families. Miss India, who won the competition, reached out. “Every girl had the best time in Israel.”
Why She Was Chosen
Noa believes she was selected to be Miss Israel because of the Zionistic values she grew up with. Her mother served in the military for 16 years as a psychologist; her father for 40 years in the Israeli Air Force as a pilot and squadron commander. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. “We were the biggest Zionist family. That’s what mattered to me—to love Israel.”
Judges were drawn to the fact that she came from the countryside, unaffiliated with pageant life. “It wasn’t about talent. The competition was based on interviews, the way you speak, and what your message is.”
Jewish Identity and Spiritual Awakening
Noa’s father grew up in a religious home and raised Noa with strong Jewish traditions.
“We said kiddish on Friday night, but everyone does that in Israel. To be honest, I was completely disconnected. I wasn’t even sure I believed in God.”
That all changed after October 7, 2023.
During the first two weeks of war, the local moshav rebbetzin gave her a card with the Wayfarers Prayer and told her it would protect her. Noa carried a tiny Book of Psalms in her army uniform as well.
“Even when I wasn’t religious—I felt like something was watching over me. Something inside me changed. I felt like something in my heart was softer…it’s something I can’t explain in words.”
Then when she actively went to serve on the Gaza border, the feelings only grew stronger. She was a medic but it was her first time actually treating anyone. It was also her first time seeing blood.
Just five hours after the October 7th attacks began, she got a call—they needed more medics immediately. She would be deployed into the field.
She froze the first time she was placed in a real-life situation. The soldier she treated was bleeding out from shrapnel in his leg. “I froze. I had a blackout. Everything I learned—gone. My doctor snapped me out of it, ‘Noa, wake up!’ He clapped in my face! Then I just went on autopilot. I don’t remember anything—I just did and kept doing.”
She recalls another emotional moment—treating a young, 19-year-old soldier. “He had the same green eyes as my brother. I was holding his life in my hands and I was watching his eyes open and shut, fighting the pain. I realized it could have been my brother. I still carry that moment and cannot shake it.”
As she served on the Gazan border, her spiritual connection grew. “When RPGs and rockets are falling all around you, it’s terrifying. One day, they threw an RPG at our white ambulance.” It missed.
“Usually, the miracles you see are things like, ‘Oh, I got a promotion at work,’ or ‘Something happened to me in the hospital and it led to my recovery.’ But this…this was so much bigger than me.
“When I saw miracles happening to other people, right in front of my own eyes, I was in a position where everything felt so much bigger. This is bigger than myself. When you see a 19-year-old kid fighting for his life, you realize—you’re such a small piece. There are so many other miracles happening. It’s not about you anymore.
“I felt something shift. I realized I needed to take small steps back—back to Shabbat, back to lighting candles, saying Modeh Ani… I used to not care if I missed kiddush. Now, I do it even if I’m alone. Every small thing brings you closer.”
Forever Fighting
One of the most powerful influences in Noa’s life was her grandmother, Nili, an Auschwitz survivor. Nili and her two sisters were on the selection line at a Nazi labor camp. Nili had become dangerously ill with tuberculosis, and was chosen to be sent to the gas chambers.
“The Nazi guard pointed at my grandmother and said, ‘You. It’s time. You will go there.’ And pointed to the gas chambers.”
Nili’s sister, Leah, jumped out of the selection line and shouted, “If she’s going, I’m going too.” A moment later, their third sister, Eva, also stepped out and joined them.
The Nazis were stunned. Leah was their fastest worker and she knew they needed her. The soldiers paused and then gave a choice: “We’ll spare your sister, but then you have to do double the work. Since she’s too sick you have to do her work for her.”
That act of courage saved Noa’s grandmother’s life—and shaped her entire family’s future. “Without Leah saying that, my grandmother wouldn’t be alive—and neither would I.”
Nili later became a phenomenal cook, known for her warmth and generosity. Noa hopes to honor her memory through a cookbook featuring her recipes. “Food is love—especially in the Jewish community. My dream is to share her food and her story with the world.”
A New Mission
Noa says her biggest realization is that her connection to God is personal. “It’s not all or nothing. Everyone mitzvah helps you feel close to God.”
Her message to the world is simple, yet powerful. “Everyone talks about sinat chinam—baseless hatred. But we need ahavat chinam—baseless love. Be kind. Say thank you. Smile. You can change someone’s whole day.”
Today, Noa takes baby steps forward in her observance. “I want my future family to keep Shabbat. There’s nothing more beautiful than disconnecting from the world and honoring it together.”
What she loves most about Judaism is the sense of family and interconnectedness that comes along with the religion. “No matter where you are in the world, you have the Jewish community. You feel at home. I moved to New York five months ago to continue my advocacy work and share my story with Jewish communities across America. When I moved to New York, away from my family, the Jewish community was so welcoming, it was like they gave me a giant hug. There’s no other group of people like this in the world.”
What a beautiful, heart lifting story. It brought tears to my eyes and reminded me how grateful I am to have been chosen by Hashem to be a Jew and to strive to make the world a place for G-d to dwell.
It is true, there is no other group like this in the world. Somehow, you will always be at home.
She’ll face an extremely hostile crowd—possibly even violence. She’ll also face Ms Palestine, who’ll be feted and will likely “win”. Jewry will be crapped on again and the demoralization of Jewry will continue apace. Better Israel skips this year than field a contestant. The MoD should issue a call up order and that’ll sweep what would otherwise be a very sordid affair under the rug.
Nice article in the israeli media about how your ilks leadership is in Israel to protest drafting Harediim. You’ve got a lot of nerve using an Israeli woman—or anything Israeli—in your outreach when you help destroy the Jewish state. Astounding that someone like Adam—or anyone else—would give you a single penny in funding.
She is an inspiration to our youth who are clever and hope to make a difference.
כל הכבוד נועה! איזה גיבורה את!!
needs to be shared
Thanks
Before Oct 7, we didn't see this coming, this groundswell of return. It look impossible & it happened almost instantaneously. My son returned from Gaza in the beginning of the war & said there are THOUSANDS of religious soldiers, BOTH knitted kippoth AND BLACK kippoth, totally united into some sort of gigantic...neshama. Noa' is so a part of that wonderful wave. We are turning into the Israel we were always supposed to be.
Baruch Ha Shem!
Jewish sister dearest Noa. Read and saw beautiful pictures of you from my home in Lakewood, New Jersey, USA. I salute you in various ways. May Hakodosh Baruch Hu continue to help you grow in many ways, to continue to help yourself, your family, and Am Yisroel. Thank you. You are a beauty foremost inside and a special neshama. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings. From : Leah Kalichman
This story is very inspiring in many ways besides being raised on a Moshav in Israel , her grandmother( obm) was a Holocaust Survivor, the reason she was picked to be a beauty queen was to be a ambassador for Israel, and show the contestants from other countries her heritage and home land, it was Hashem's plan for her to be it in this place at the time
This is a great story, wonderfully written and so much to the point.
Congratulations, is will be a first class Miss Israel leading the way with a personality that will insure youth to follow in order to reach the top.
Oh I suppose as opposed to "Palestinians" who never existed as a people or ethnicity or even a piece of some tiny haplogroup, i.e. nothing, until Arafat created them out of imaginary whole cloth in 1964, and until then they were not even racially nor ethnically nor archaeologically(hey, that's exactly how you choose to use terms, goofy as that is) ever even Arabs? Some people must just be comedians I guess.
With respect David, it appears that your knowledge of Jewish lineage is lacking. There were 12 tribes. Moses appointment his brother Aaron as the first high priest (Kohain gadol). Subsequent priests (Kohain) were only from male lineage with the exception of Pinkus who Moses appointed a priest. So, I am a Kohain because my father was one and so on. Genetics have found a Kohain gene. So yes, Jews have a claim to the land that goes back 4000 years to Abraham.
Good job on showing a modest picture of a beauty contest contestant.
In HaShem's hands and Kol HaKavod!
What a beautiful story ! She will be blessed by Hashem in all her future endeavors. Thank you for this wonderful essay.
Why MOVE TO NYC🤮🤮🤮. YOU BELONG IN 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱. Not good
She belongs where SHE feels she belongs, not where you or someone else says she belongs. Don't you imagine she will have more opportunity to spread Jewish values in NY than in Israel, if she continues as she did when she educated the other contestants? "My goal was just to teach them everything I can about Israel and the Jewish people and give them a real experience."
Wow! Such an inspiration you are.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful story
This is such an inspiring story. Noa, you are amazing! Welcome to New York.
Kol HaKavod! The warmth and caring of Noa is clearly evident and honest. What she states will be manifest to all whether religious or not. Her example is very special in coming closer to Hashem.