Haredi Influencer Bridges Cultural Divide On Social Media

You mentioned that the pandemic shone a brighter light on the gap between Israel’s secular and Haredi-Orthodox communities. How so?

[When the pandemic hit] suddenly everyone forgot all about the Orthodox people who help the state – who painstakingly help following terrorist attacks; who volunteer at organizations that save people’s lives and help in various [roles] in Israeli society. Maybe they don’t do it in the “acceptable” Israeli way [by serving in] the army, but they help in so many other ways. We became the scapegoat [for the pandemic] and we were mistreated. So I used my platforms to make sure that people were aware of [the community’s contributions].

How have you been received in your community? 

It was very hard for many people [to accept what I do] in the beginning. Usually Orthodox Israelis on TV or in entertainment are people who used to be secular. There has never been a television personality who grew up and is still Orthodox and [stars] on television, for a number of reasons: As an Orthodox person you are expected to get married young and immerse yourself in daily community life. No one is really encouraged to go into the arts. So, when I started there was a really big question mark surrounding whether or not I would succeed. But today’s generation is different. Social media has entered the Orthodox world and it is changing everything. The distance between [us] and the secular world is becoming much smaller and I am one of the reasons this is happening.