Jackie Hadjenberg | JTA
The video that the influencer Ellie Zeiler uploaded for her millions of followers earlier this month included her content’s regular fare: outfits, selfies and jet-setting around the world.
But there was a big change: Instead of filming herself in Ibiza, or promoting jewelry, Zeiler, 20, was posting from Jerusalem. And she had news: She was now enrolled in a seminary for Orthodox girls and would be focusing her content on life as an observant Jew.
The caption was “Ellie in Israel Era” and Zeiler’s video showed photos and clips of her evolving style over several years.
“You guys have seen me grow up and go through a lot of eras on the internet,” she said. “But post-Oct. 7, a lot in my life felt meaningless. As you know, I posted a lot about my pride for being Jewish and my support for Israel. And as I continued to post, my beliefs grew stronger and stronger. I started keeping Shabbat, and now I can never see my life living without it, as well as keeping kosher, and now I grasp at any piece of knowledge that I get to learn about connection and religion.”
Zeiler’s change of pace is an influencer case study in the shift that some Jews have experienced since Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel and sparked a global reckoning about Jewish identity. Some Jews — including second gentleman Doug Emhoff, whom Zeiler has interviewed in the past — have reported feeling more connected to their identities and interested in spending time more often with other Jews. Some, like Zeiler, have taken on new Jewish observances.
But while several influencers have made Israel and their Jewish identity a more central component of their content in the last year, Zeiler is the first major influencer to relocate fully to Israel and to devote her time to Jewish learning.
Zeiler did not reply to requests for comment. But her posts indicate that she has enrolled at a seminary run by an Orthodox outreach organization that operates a yeshiva for men and a seminary for women in the Old City of Jerusalem, and whose programs have long been popular among non- or newly religious Jews seeking to intensify their observance.
Zeiler launched her Instagram account in 2015 with a post celebrating her elementary-school graduation and now has more than 10 million followers on that platform and another 10.5 million on TikTok. She has long posted about Jewish topics, Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism — and engaged in those topics offline, too.
