Adina Miles Sash (born Esther Adina Miles) is an American Jewish activist and

social media influencer A social media influencer, or simply influencer (also known as an online influencer), is a person who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates. This is done by using direct audience intera ...

. Sash gained notability within Orthodox Judaism for her stage character, FlatbushGirl, on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. Her comedic brand of activism focuses on the everyday lives of Orthodox Jewish women and challenging

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

Early life and education

Sash was raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. She holds a master's degree in

Medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...

from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

. According to Sash, her online activism was born from her having received misogynistic comments, from allegedly Orthodox Jews, during an attempt to start a marketing business.

Career

#FrumWomenHaveFaces!

In 2017, Sash launched a social media campaign #FrumWomenHaveFaces that went viral on social media which raised awareness of the practice of erasing women adopted by some Orthodox newspapers and magazines. Her campaign was covered in the ''

NY Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in tabloid format, and rea ...

'' and received the support of actress

Mayim Bialik Mayim Chaya Bialik ( ; born December 12, 1975) is an American actress, author, and former game show host. From 1991 to 1995, she played the title character of the NBC sitcom ''Blossom (American TV series), Blossom''. From 2010 to 2019, she play ...

. Sash's campaign tactics included purchasing a full-page ad in the '' Flatbush Jewish Journal'' thanking city councilman

Chaim Deutsch Chaim M. Deutsch (born April 15, 1969) is an American politician who served as a New York City Council Member for the New York City's 48th City Council district, 48th district from 2014 to 2021. He is a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat. ...

for his service to the Jewish community, and when informed the paper would not allow her face to be shown or the word "girl" to be used in the title, Sash modified the ad so that an

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

covered her face and her

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

was changed from 'Flatbush Girl' to 'Flatbush Boy'.

Politics

In 2018, Sash ran for district leader in the 45th New York State Assembly District. In 2019, Sash ran to replace the vacated seat of

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

man

Jumaane Williams Jumaane D. Williams ( ; born May 11, 1976) is an American activist and politician who has served as the New York City Public Advocate since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and a self-described democratic ...

, but finished in fourth place out of 21 candidates with 696 votes (7.16% of votes cast) after all absentee ballots were counted.

Reception within the Orthodox Jewish community

Sash's reception within the Orthodox community has been mixed. Backlash to Sash's activism, centering on Orthodox norms of women's modesty, received significant media coverage. liberal Orthodox women's advocacy groups, including the

Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) is an Orthodox Jewish organization providing educational services on women's issues, with the aim of expanding "the spiritual, ritual, intellectual, and political opportunities for women within the f ...

(JOFA) and

Chochmat Nashim Chochmat Nashim (Hebrew: ) is an Israeli organisation that promotes women's rights in the Orthodox Jewish community in Israel and the United States. Their work aims to raise awareness of trends and policies within Orthodoxy that might harm women ...

, publicly supported Sash's activism.

Tauriga Sciences

She is chief marketing officer of Tauriga Sciences (), a publicly traded, life sciences company with a line of CBD infused products. Tauri-Gum is a subsidiary of Tauriga Sciences, with CBD and CBG infused chewing gum.

References

External links

* Adina Sash'
FlatbushGirl Instagram page
* Adina Sash'
YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sash, Adina Year of birth missing (living people) People from Flatbush, Brooklyn Comedians from Brooklyn Orthodox Jews and Judaism in New York City 21st-century American women Brooklyn College alumni American women activists Living people