Language of love: British TV contestant to marry Israeli reality star
Josh Brennan, who appeared on the Israeli TV show Rising Star, moved to Israel last year partially to escape rising antisemitism in the UK.
A British-born reality TV star is to marry an Israeli woman who also made TV headlines despite the pair having little grasp of each other’s languages when they met.
Josh Brennan, who made headlines in Israel after he appeared on the show Rising Star (HaKokhav Haba), moved to Israel in February, partially to escape rising antisemitism in the UK.
Since then, he has embarked on a journey to break through in the music industry, with his participation in Rising Star putting him on the map of the Israeli music scene.
Speaking to Jewish News, Brennan described how he found the “love of his life” in Shira Gitter, an Israeli woman whom he had been messaging on Tinder before he moved to Israel. They finally met up the day after he arrived, and despite some language and cultural barriers they quickly became an item.
“Our first date was at a sushi place in Ra’anana. I knew straight away how amazing she was. I don’t think she knew at that moment that I would be the one but I certainly felt it. Her English wasn’t that great and my Hebrew was non existent. But she spoke a little, and we mainly used Google Translate to communicate,” Brennan said.
Shiran, who is also known from TV from her time in Israeli Big Brother 10 years ago, came to support Brennan when he participated in the Rising Star talent show: “She was incredibly supportive and has been the most amazing girlfriend. And I know she will be the most amazing wife, so I am very excited.
“There were some cultural barriers, but it was really interesting to learn about her culture, me being an Ashkenazi Jew and her being Sephardic, with roots from Iraq and Tunisia. I’ve really embraced it.”
Their families have met twice already, and despite a slight language barrier, they get a long very well. Brennan has also taken Shira to England to show her London and Finchley where he grew up. “I was like a tourist for a week, showing her all the things to see in central London.”
The couple will have their wedding in Israel on 28 December, and plan on starting a family in Israel as well.
Brennan is in the final stages making Aliyah and took part in the Career Israel programme by ‘Israel Experience’, an education subsidiary of the Jewish Agency, brings participants to Israeli top internships in all types of industries.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
