Leah Dinovitz (Asher), 27, has a passion for chronic illness advocacy.
Dinovitz, who grew up in Pikesville and lives there now, received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. While she knew she wanted a master’s degree, she decided to take a break because of her chronic illnesses, which include lupus. During this time, Dinovitz started a TikTok page to create a community for people with chronic illnesses.
Dinovitz attends the Dinovitz Shul and Ner Tamid. She is engaged to Avi Carroll.
What did you do after you graduated college?
In between my bachelor’s and my master’s, I decided to take a break. I actually worked in the medical cannabis field because it helped me so much, and there was so much stigma around it in the Orthodox community that I decided to help people who needed it for chemo and the various other intense chronic illnesses that it helps. It was extremely fulfilling. Then, I started a TikTok page for advocacy for chronic illness — living joyfully with chronic illness, and disabled joy and being in an interabled relationship. Eventually I had enough of a following and sponsorships that I was able to do that full time while I’m working my way towards getting healthy enough to go back to pursuing my master’s degree.
How would you describe your relationship with Judaism?
I’m in love with Judaism. Judaism is the first part of my identity. I am Jewish before I’m anything else. I like to tell people that it looks a little bit different on me. I went to Bais Yaakov my whole childhood and loved it. Judaism looked a little different on me when I was diagnosed. It turned out that I needed to start wearing pants for my safety because my vestibular illnesses are so intense that anything that is even slightly more encumbering to my movement was a danger. So I have to wear whatever it is that I have to wear that makes me mobile.
What is the most fulfilling part of your job?
I will be journaling and have a thought that is really healing that came from years of therapy. Having chronic illness from a young age is sort of like waking up one morning, and all of a sudden, you’re in these woods, and some days, the woods are very scary and dark and the trees are gnarled together and there’s no way out. But some days you don’t see a single tree, and it’s all sunshine and you don’t know what kind of day you’re going to get. The sad truth is that for a lot of people with chronic illness, there is no cure for some of the things we have. So even on days when we don’t see a single tree, we’re not technically out of the woods.
I remember my younger self waking up one morning after a whole life of being able-bodied and all of a sudden I couldn’t use my fingers. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t use my jaw. It quite literally happened overnight. I just woke up and so many of my bodily functions were not functioning, and I rushed to the hospital.
That started off a two-year process of being in those woods, of people having no idea what was wrong with me and being completely medically gaslit. I was told it was just being a teenager and it was anxiety. Now, I finally feel like through years of working through those woods myself and journaling and cataloging the way through those woods, whether the day is completely sunshine or completely trees, I like that I get to go back to where I started and guide people through the place where I was so lost. You can make videos that are light and silly with the tiniest message that you spent 15 years learning. But, for someone else, just one line on a screen changes their whole perspective and they get to skip a hard part of the journey because you spent 15 seconds making a video.
