Fans say Miriam Ezagui grew a large following through the authenticity of her daily life. (Miriam Ezagui\/TikTok)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
So opens a typical TikTok post from Miriam Ezagui, a 37-year-old Brooklyn-based labor and delivery nurse who has amassed 1.6 million followers on the social media platform. Users who make their way to \u201cJewTok,\u201d as the Jewish corner of TikTok is known, have likely encountered Ezagui\u2019s videos, which cover everything from purchasing a sheitel to making matzah ball soup to a makeup tutorial with her daughter.<\/p>\n
Since starting her account in May 2020, Ezagui has cemented herself at the top of the searches for \u201cJewish\u201d and \u201cOrthodox Jewish\u201d thanks to her warm demeanor, easy humor and information-based approach. But she didn\u2019t set out to become a Jewish influencer. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t originally start as a Jewish account,\u201d Ezagui told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Instead, it was a way to be productive while on maternity leave for her fourth child: \u201cIt gave me an excuse to get dressed and not just walk around in pajamas all day.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI never would have imagined that it would be where it is today,\u201d Ezagui said of her TikTok account. \u201cIt\u2019s been a little life-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days, Ezagui gets invited to numerous events and Jewish product launches: she\u2019s received free clothes thanks to collaborations with local retailers; tickets to see the off-Broadway play \u201cThe Wanderers\u201d in exchange for an ad on her account, as well as discounts at the well-known Shani Wigs store in Brooklyn. Ezagui, who collaborates with both Jewish and non-Jewish influencers, said she\u2019s often recognized as she goes about her day-to-day life. <\/p>\n
Ezagui, who is Hasidic and whose four daughters range in age from 18 months to 9 years old, began her account as a way to share tips on the best ways to safely and comfortably hold a baby using woven wraps. But that all changed in late January 2022, when comedian and \u201cThe View\u201d host Whoopi Goldberg said on air that \u201cthe Holocaust isn\u2019t about race.\u201d <\/p>\n
As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Ezagui said she questioned how someone with as much of a platform as Goldberg had such a lack of understanding about the Holocaust \u2014 so she decided to speak up and create a video that debunked Goldberg\u2019s claims. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really had a long, hard think about whether I wanted to come out as being openly Jewish online because I was really scared of hatred and antisemitism because it\u2019s so easy for people to do that online because they can just be a blank profile or screen,\u201d Ezagui explained of why she was initially skeptical to post. \u201cI never hide the fact that I\u2019m Jewish, but I was not a social media personality \u2026 I share things personally but not with the world.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ezagui made her first explainer video in February 2022, breaking down why the Holocaust was an attempt to eliminate the Jewish people because the Nazis viewed them as a lesser race. \u201cI feel like I have an obligation as a Jewish woman,\u201d she said in the three-minute clip. \u201cAs the granddaughter of not one, but two, Holocaust survivors, I feel like my voice needs to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nazi movement wanted to eradicate Jewish people from the world. They saw us as subhuman, they saw us as inferior, something that the world needed cleansing of,\u201d she added. \u201cIf you read the Nuremberg Laws, they refer to us as the Jewish race. They racialized us, they slapped stars on our arms, put us in concentration camps, sent us to gas chambers because we were Jewish \u2014 our whiteness didn\u2019t save us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Though the video got positive feedback from her followers, the video only received around 350 likes. But her account started attracting a large following in April 2022, when she featured her grandmother, Lilly Malnik, who discussed her memories of the Holocaust. The video, titled \u201cMeet my Bubby,\u201d racked up over 30,000 likes. <\/p>\n
In the next four months, several of Ezagui\u2019s videos began to rack up anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of likes and views. In one particular TikTok from June 2022, Malnik discusses how she lost her menstrual cycle while in Auschwitz. The clip garnered 3.1 million likes and 23.4 million views. <\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/CnzwNGDP6Za\/<\/p>\n
Along the way, Ezagui began producing more Judaism-focused content. Within two months of her first Jewish video, half of Ezagui\u2019s content had become talking about the Jewishness of her day-to-day life. These days, she posts a mix of storytimes (a popular type of TikTok video in which creators recount a story about their lives), explainer videos on Orthodox customs and scenes from her days as a mom and nurse.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot about multitasking or it\u2019s a lot about me just filming my everyday life,\u201d she added, explaining how she manages to fit between one and four hours of filming each day, except on Shabbat. \u201cYou know, \u2018OK, I\u2019m making some chicken matzah ball soup. Let\u2019s take out the camera.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a mixture that\u2019s clearly working for her. Fans say that it\u2019s Ezagui\u2019s authenticity \u2014 her children are often yelling in the background, for example \u2014 is what sets her apart. \u201cI like Miriam so much because I feel like she embodies the idea of an influencer staying true to themselves,\u201d said Alyssa Cruz,19, of Toledo, Ohio. \u201cShe does not apologize for living her life a certain way, but she also handles hate and criticism with grace and respect. You can tell her what her true intentions are, and she never tries to be anyone but herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200b\u200bI like that she\u2019s not as much of an \u2018influencer\u2019 as some other similar types of TikTok channels,\u201d said Rachel Delman Turniansky, 57, from Baltimore. \u201cI get that there are people who have been able to monetize their accounts, and good for them, but it\u2019s kind of a nice break from that to see someone who isn\u2019t doing it for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMiriam is a friend of mine, so it\u2019s been fun to watch her grow,\u201d said Shaina, a 25-year-old in Wellington, Florida, who knows Ezagui personally and did not want to share her last name for privacy reasons. \u201cI\u2019m also an Orthodox nurse, and I love seeing the way she runs so many different parts of her life \u2014 work, family, religion, TikTok, her own hobbies, etc. \u2014 in such a great rhythm. She doesn\u2019t hide behind filters, and set ups. What you see is her real day to day life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Ezagui\u2019s approach is often no-nonsense and educational, her videos are occasionally livened up with her unique blend of sarcasm and cheekiness \u2014 something her fans lovingly call \u201cspicy Miriam.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI love Miriam\u2019s humor \u2014 it\u2019s mom humor so it reminds me of my own mother,\u201d said 22-year-old Los Angeles native Alexa Hirsch. \u201cI love her sexual innuendos because they\u2019re so lighthearted and cute! I love how she manages to maintain her family friendly persona while also normalizing discussions about personal and private aspects of Orthodox Judaism.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked whether Orthodox Jews can have sex on Shabbat, Miriam responded that the practice is \u201cactually encouraged,\u201d then boldly calls for her husband to help her push the beds together, raising her eyebrows and smirking. <\/p>\n
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