Shifra Cornfeld

Shifra Cornfeld, who won Israel’s “Big Brother” Tuesday night, is the granddaughter of Dave and Martha Cornfeld of University City and the niece of Marcy and Rick Cornfeld of Creve Coeur and Jim and Jan Cornfeld of Clayton. Her father,  Yussi Cornfeld, grew up in U. City.

Shifra, 27, described as a flight attendant for El Al but also, her family says, a talented designer, took home 1 million shekels, about $268,500. “Big Brother” drew the biggest ratings for any Israeli TV show in 10 years. News agency JTA wrote:

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis tuned in to see what was happening in the house, where contestants from many walks of Israeli life lived in front of television cameras 24 hours a day for 3 1/2 months, cut off from the rest of the world. Each week the television audience voted off one contestant.

Cornfeld, who left a religious lifestyle to pursue a secular one, garnered nearly 50 percent of the final vote, in which the final five contestants were evicted from the house during a live broadcast. The show started with 16 housemates and added four more after nearly two months.

The show also sparked controversy. For more, read this interesting article from Haaretz.com, headlined “Israel’s Big Brother: Plenty of ethnic tension, but no sex.”