Tahounia Rubel ( he, טהוניה רובל, often written as Tahuonia or Tahunia; born February 20, 1988) is an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

fashion model, singer, and television personality. She became widely known as the first person of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n origin to win ''

HaAh HaGadol ''Big Brother'' ( he, האח הגדול, Transliteration: , ) is the Israeli version of the international reality television franchise ''Big Brother'' created by producer John de Mol in 1997. The show is broadcast since 2008, following the premis ...

'' (the Israeli version of ''Big Brother''), in the fifth season.

Biography

Tahounia Rubel was born in

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...

, to an Ethiopian-Jewish family. Her name "Tahounia" derives from the word meaning "staying for a prolonged term" in

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

. Rubel moved to Israel with her family when she was three, under the widely known immigration drive called

Operation Solomon Operation Solomon ( he, מבצע שלמה, Mivtza Shlomo) was a covert Israeli military operation in May 24 to 25, 1991, to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Non-stop flights of 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Bo ...

. She served as a Driving Course Instructor in the

Logistics Corps The Israeli Logistics Corps is a support corps in the IDF Technological and Logistics Directorate, which centralizes the logistical activity in the IDF, including the transporting of supplies, shipments of fuel, construction, and transport. Its ...

of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. During her military service, she completed 12 years of schooling. In 2012, Rubel went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she lived for eight months in a models apartment. She has since led campaigns for familiar designer brands in

, including Sleek Makeup,

MAC Cosmetics MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies i ...

and

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

for

Glamour magazine ''Glamour'' is today an online women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. For many years a traditional hard-copy magazine, it was founded in 1939 and first published in April 1939 in the United States. It was originally called '' ...

. She has also been likened to a young

Iman Iman, Imann, Imaan, Eman, Emaan, or Imman may refer to: Places * Iman, Iran, a village in Kalashi District, Kermanshah Province * The Iman River, the former name of the Bolshaya Ussurka River, a tributary of the Ussuri River in Russia's Primors ...

. In 2012, Rubel was named "The Israeli Supermodel" in an Israeli beauty pageant, becoming the first woman of Ethiopian origin to win a local beauty pageant. She subsequently represented Israel at the World Supermodel Pageant in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, but missed a place in the final. In 2013, Rubel won the fifth series of ''

'' (the Israeli version of Big Brother) and worth NIS one million. Roni Maili, one of the houseguests in the show who was eliminated later because of aggressive behavior, made racist comments about her. In September 2013, Rubel participated in a special fundraiser broadcast of

Latet Latet (, ''lit.'' to give) is an Israeli nonprofit aid organization that was founded in 1996 by Gilles Darmon, a then new immigrant from France. Acting as an umbrella organization for 180 local NGOs across 105 communities in the countryLatetprov ...

on Channel 2 and she was chosen to voice-over an animated character in a

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for Klik of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

company. In October 2013, Rubel was invited with her family to the president's residence, where President

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

held a salute ceremony honoring

Ethiopian Jews The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

in celebration of

Sigd Mehlella ( gez, ምህላ, , Supplication), also Amata Saww (, 'Grouping Day') or Sigd (, 'Prostration', he, סיגד, also romanized ''Sig'd''), is one of the unique holidays of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) community, and is celebrated on ...

. The same month, she performed

Eyal Golan Eyal Golan ( he, אייל גולן; born Eyal Bitton; 12 April 1971) is an Israeli singer who sings in the Mizrahi music pop fusion genre, and considered one of the most successful singers in Israel. Golan reported the highest income of all sing ...

's song ''Kol HaHalomot'' (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: כל החלומות, "All The Dreams") on the Israeli reality TV program ''

HaKokhav HaBa ''HaKokhav HaBa'' ( he, הַכּוֹכָב הַבָּא, translated as "The Next Star"; formerly ''HaKokhav HaBa LaErovizion'', ''Rising Star to the Eurovision'') is an Israeli interactive reality singing competition, which was first broadcast ...

'' (the Israeli version of ''Rising Star''). A 45-minute

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about Rubel, ''Tahounia - By Herself'', was produced by

Galit Gutman Galit Gutman ( he, גלית גוטמן, born September 23, 1972) is an Israeli actress, television host and fashion model. Biography Galit Gutmman is married to photojournalist Ziv Koren and the mother of two daughters. She began her modeling ca ...

. It reveals Rubel's most intimate moments in the span of eight months and tells about her tough childhood, until entering the ''

'' (the Israeli version of ''Big Brother''). The documentary was broadcast on May 15, 2014 on Channel 2 to 611.3 thousand viewers and it was the second highest rating for that day. A few days later it was broadcast in Europe and the United States on the

Israeli Network The Israeli Network ( he, הערוץ הישראלי) is an international private television network. It launched September 2001 and features programming from all the top networks in Israel including Kan 11, Keshet 12, Reshet 13, Channel 10, Cha ...

.
Tahounia - By Herself
' In 2021, she took part in the second season of the Israeli production of ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' as the

Babushka Babushka or baboushka or babooshka (from rus, ба́бушка, p=ˈbabʊʂkə, meaning "grandmother" or "elderly woman") may refer to: Arts and media * "Babooshka" (song), a 1980 song by Kate Bush * "Babushka Boi" (song), a 2019 song by A$A ...

and was the eighth contestant eliminated.

References

External links

* *
Tahounia Rubel at Zone ModelsTahounia Rubel at MC2 Model ManagementTahounia Rubel at Vision Models Cape Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubel, Tahounia 1988 births Living people Israeli Jews Jewish female models Israeli female models Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent Ethiopian emigrants to Israel Big Brother (franchise) winners Israeli beauty pageant winners People from Beit Shemesh Ono Academic College alumni People from Gondar

Biography

See also

References

External links