Esther Petrack

Esther Petrack is a contestant on of the American reality TV show America's Next Top Model, which is currently in progress. Petrack is a Modern Orthodox Jew from Boston, Massachusetts who has gained international notoriety, especially among Jews, for her attempt to mix religious Judaism with semi-professional modeling.
Childhood
Petrack was born in Jerusalem, lived in France as a child, and was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts. She attended Maimonides School in Brookline, where she participated in a Kosher soup kitchen. She admitted to The Jewish Advocate that she missed her high school graduation because she was filming for the show.
America's Next Top Model
Petrack tried out for Cycle 15 of America's Next Top Model during her senior year of high school. She was featured in one of the first promotional advertisements for the show (along with Ann Ward). The premiere of Cycle 15 was on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; prior to the premiere, Petrack posted on her Facebook page that she would not be able to watch the premiere until two days later because of her observance of the holiday.
To this point, Petrack has reached the Top 7. She has been one away from elimination only once, in the episode of October 20, 2010, when Kendal Brown was eliminated.
ANTM and Judaism
While on the show, Petrack maintained a thorough level of Orthodox Judaism. She had a completely separate diet from the other girls living in the house, using her weekly budget to buy paper plates and silverware so that she could maintain a proper level of keeping Kosher. According to her mother, she even took one of her pots down to the Pacific Ocean to kasher it. In the episode of October 20, an entire segment was devoted to Esther's Judaism and the degree to which it differentiated her from the other girls. During the segment, Jane Randall asks her to say something in Hebrew (she responds, "Shmi Esther--"My name is Esther") and the camera zooms on the cabinet marked, "Esther's Cabinet," containing all of her Kosher materials.
Controversy
Petrack has encountered much criticism from the Orthodox world for her participation on a show which is often thought to be detrimental to women's body image. Writers for the Tablet Magazine, The Jewish Chronicle, and the [http://finkorswim.com/2010/09/16/esther-petrack-modern-orthodox-jewish-girl-on-americas-next-top-model-drops-shabbos-on-television/#comment-88136106 Pacific Jewish Center] were disappointed with Petrack's response when Tyra Banks asked her whether she would forgo Sabbath observance in order to participate in the show. Petrack replied, "I would do it."
On October 19, 2010, Petrack's mother, Marina, responded to the accusations that her daughter would give up her religious observance for a spot on the show, calling the accusations "scandalous" and blaming the editing on America's Next Top Model for extracting four words, "I will do it," from a "long conversation about the principles and laws of shabbat and how Esther was planning to observe them." She intends to go to college next year after taking a gap year after high school.<ref name="www1.whdh.com"/>

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