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Orthodox influencer ‘Flatbush Girl’ seeks arrest of man who flashed her Instagram session
(New York Jewish Week) — A Brooklyn-based Orthodox activist wants her community to be the last one targeted by a possible serial flasher who crashed an online chat she was leading last week.
Adina Miles-Sash, who is known to her 61,000 followers as Flatbush Girl, also says her community’s reaction to the flashing incident underscores the changes needed if women are to feel respected and secure.
In the past, Miles-Sash has battled for women’s representation in Orthodox media, where their faces are frequently blurred or omitted; advocated for Orthodox victims of sexual assault, and joined an Orthodox women’s ambulance corps that fought for its right to operate. So after a man exposed himself to more than 3,000 viewers on an Instagram chat she was hosting with Shifra, a support group for Jewish women with unplanned pregnancies, she knew just how to spring into action.
She gathered information about other online sessions that had been infiltrated by a flasher in an apparently identical space and pose — even finding one featuring “Bachelor” contestant Chelsea Vaughn. She contacted both the NYPD and FBI, concerned that the presence of minors among the viewers elevated the disturbance into a more significant crime.
She even floated hiring a forensic analyst to try to piece together other clues from the limited view captured on tape — though she moved away from the idea after posting that it would require a $15,000 retainer just to subpoena Instagram to find the flasher’s IP address and when the majority of her followers said they would not donate to cover the costs.
On Tuesday night, she revealed a breakthrough: screenshots from a third event interrupted by what appeared to be the same man. This time, the host was Daryl-Ann Denner, a Christian influencer in Southern California with 1.3 million Instagram followers.
“I’m assembling soooo much evidence you have no idea,” Miles-Sash told someone who messaged her with praise about her detective work, according to a screenshot she shared.
For Miles-Sash, the incident and its aftermath suggest both the strength and the challenges of the tight-knit online Orthodox community.
“I just really hope we can crack this case as a COMMUNITY cause he has done this to NUMEROUS other groups but he messed with the wrong crowd!!!” she messaged the fan.
But she also has been vocal about how the reaction to the initial interruption from some quarters of Orthodox social media had disappointed her. A handful of commenters blamed her for the interruption, citing what they said were her transgressions of mainstream Orthodox norms, and some even suggested that she had fabricated the incident to draw attention to her favored issues.
“Sorry, but u had this coming,” said one message that Miles-Sash shared with her followers. (Miles-Sash did not post the names of the accounts that sent the messages she shared.) “U knew eventually things like this would pop up. Esp the fact that you talk about sex and bisexuals on ur platform.”
“You definitely set that up on purpose to try and make men look bad,” read another direct message that Miles-Sash received, sent from an account whose profile picture showed a man praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “We’ll expose you for exposing the young and innocent to such horrible acts.”
Miles-Sash and her allies also said they expected more denunciation of the incident from rabbinic figures and other Orthodox leaders.
“Here’s a presumably Orthodox guy who’s literally naked and swinging himself in front of a camera,” said Shoshana Keats-Jaskoll, an American-Israeli activist on Orthodox women’s issues. “And instead of the Orthodox world screaming that is not OK, they’re actually accusing Adina of having set the whole thing up.”
Miles-Sash reserved particular scorn for Laibel Weiner, the host of the Orthodox comedy podcast MisLaibeled, who joked about the size of the man’s “shlong” on his Instagram page the day after the event. Many comments on that post condemned Weiner’s comments, including YeahThat’sKosher, a popular food blog in the Orthodox community.
“There is nothing humorous about this,” the comment said. “Get your priorities in check.”
Weiner said later in the week that he continued to find the whole situation humorous — but that he also valued Miles-Sash’s advocacy.
“There are times in life where jokes surrounding bad things that occur can be funny. I think this is one of those situations,” Weiner said. “That’s my personal opinion. I appreciate that Flatbush Girl has been able to use her platform to bring attention and awareness to important issues in our community. It doesn’t matter what her opinion is on a particular matter, I am glad she has the opportunity to share what she feels is right.”
Many of Miles-Sash’s followers expressed support all along, and particularly after she criticized the response from within Orthodoxy, some produced videos denouncing attacks on women, which she shared.
“Please know that you are in the eyes of so many women a true warrior,” wrote Melissa Chapman, an Instagram influencer with over 100,000 followers. Using a Hebrew name for God, she added, “May Hashem continue to give you the strength and fortitude to continue doing the life changing work you are so committed to doing.”
Whether the flasher targeted an Orthodox women’s event in particular and whether the flasher has any connection to the community is unclear. He used the name of a friend of Miles-Sash to enter the Instagram chat — but he had done the same thing in previous interruptions, she said. Nothing in the limited view of the man’s room indicated a Jewish identity.
To some, the incident was a reminder of lessons learned during the pandemic’s pivot to online events: Be wary of Zoombombing, as it takes only a single bad actor to derail thousands of people’s experience.
“I tried to kick him off the screen as fast as I could, but even within that full five or six seconds, a lot of damage was done,” Miles-Sash said.
Others are left reflecting on the potential of the Instagram pulpit, which Orthodox women have wielded to fight racism and antisemitism, share medical information and build businesses.
“These women have more followers than any rebbe,” Keats-Jaskoll said. “If Jewish leadership was smart, they would harness the power, passion and potential of Jewish women to improve the community.”
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The post Orthodox influencer ‘Flatbush Girl’ seeks arrest of man who flashed her Instagram session appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Australia Pro-Palestinian Rally Draws Tens of Thousands, Skepticism on Ceasefire
Demonstrators hold a banner during the ‘Nationwide March for Palestine’, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect, in Sydney, Australia, October 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Tens of thousands joined a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney on Sunday, organizers said, one of dozens of demonstrations across Australia, with some protesters expressing skepticism a ceasefire in Israel’s two-year-old assault in Gaza would hold.
The organizer, the Palestine Action Group, estimated a crowd of 30,000 in Sydney, the nation’s most populous city, one of about 27 nationwide. Police did not have a crowd estimate for the protest.
The Gaza ceasefire appeared to be holding early on Sunday and Israeli troops had pulled back under the first phase of a US-brokered agreement to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands and left much of the narrow enclave in ruins.
“Even if the ceasefire holds, Israel is still conducting a military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank,” Amal Naser, an organizer of the Sydney rally, said in a statement. “The occupation as well as systemic discrimination against Palestinians living in Israel constitute an Apartheid system.”
Australian Broadcasting Corp footage showed protesters, many carrying Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyeh scarves, marching on closed city streets. Police said no arrests were made.
The rally was held in the business district after a court last week blocked a move to hold it at the Sydney Opera House.
Protester Abbi Jordan said she was at the rally because “this so-called ceasefire will not hold.”
“Israel always breaks every ceasefire they’ve ever done. For 78 years, they’ve been conducting an illegal occupation in Palestinian territories, and we demand the Australian government sanction Israel,” Jordan told Reuters.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for more than 200 Jewish organizations, condemned the protest organizers. “They want the deal to fail, which would mean the war would continue,” co-Chief Executive Peter Wertheim said in a statement.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been common in Australia, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, since the war in Gaza erupted when militants of the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in an attack on October 7, 2023.
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UK PM Starmer to Attend Middle East Peace Summit in Egypt
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump (not pictured) hold a bilateral meeting at Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will travel to Egypt to attend the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit, where leaders are expected to sign a US-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza, his office said on Saturday.
The first phase of the plan is set to begin with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners by Monday, marking what Britain called a “historic turning point” after two years of war.
The British leader would pay tribute to the role of US President Donald Trump and the diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in brokering the deal, his office said.
He is expected to call for continued international coordination to implement the next phase, which includes deploying a ceasefire monitoring mission and establishing transitional governance in Gaza.
Starmer will reiterate Britain’s “steadfast support” to help secure the ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid.
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As Israelis rally for hostages, they hope for the last time, Trump’s name is cheered and Netanyahu’s is booed
(JTA) — Hundreds of thousands of Israelis poured into Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Saturday night in what everyone present was hoping would be the final vigil on behalf of the hostages taken to Gaza two years ago.
Massive posters showing the 48 hostages expected to be returned imminently, 20 alive, under the terms of a ceasefire struck on Friday, surrounded the square. Demonstrators carried signs thanking U.S. President Donald Trump, who pressed for the deal. And hostage families described their excitement at finally being able to reunite with their loved ones — and their grief at preparing to receive their loved ones’ remains.
Some of the stars of the rally were three American Jews — Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — who played a role in pushing negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the finish line.
Witkoff was visibly emotional. “I dreamed of this night. It’s been a long journey. This is the most powerful sight,” Trump’s Middle East envoy told the crowd. “All of our hearts beating as one.”
When Witkoff thanked Trump, loud cheers resounded. But when he mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the crowd booed. Multiple times, he had to ask to be allowed to go on before saying, “I was in the trenches with the prime minister, believe me, he was a very important part.”
Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for prolonging the war and the hostages’ captivity, a sentiment that independent reporting has supported and that Trump reportedly expressed privately at times in the course of negotiating an end to the war.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, followed, praising Witkoff, thanking the Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza and describing his own reaction to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Kushner, who has significant business interests and relations across the Middle East, also was the only speaker to mention Gazans who also experienced two years of war after Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza.
“October 7, for me, was a shattering day,” he said. “Since then, my heart has not been complete, and it’s been a tremendous burden that I felt to see these hostages come home, to see their families get the closure they deserve and to end this nightmare – and also to see the suffering end for the people in Gaza, who, for most of them, were experiencing this through no fault of their own, other than being born into a situation that was horrific.”
Kushner’s wife, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, also addressed the crowd, saying that her father had a message he wanted to pass on. “The president wanted me to share, as he has with so many of you personally, that he sees you, he hears you, he stands with you always, always,” she said.
Trump repeatedly cited the crowd sizes in Tel Aviv as evidence that the Israeli people wanted to make a deal to end the war and bring the hostages home. (Polls easily supported the idea.)
The 20 living hostages and some number of deceased hostages are set to be returned on Monday morning, after Hamas said it had amassed them at three points within Gaza.
Earlier in the day, Witkoff had told hostage families that there was concern that Hamas would not be able to locate all of the bodies of the hostages who had been killed. Some family members exhorted the crowd to keep demonstrating until all of the deceased hostages had been returned, too.
And even those who are preparing to reunite with their loved ones after two years said they could not totally celebrate. “This is not a happy event,” Itzik Horn, whose son Eitan is set to be released alive, eight months after his brother Iair was freed, told the crowd. “This is the end of the cursed day in the history of the state — Israeli citizens are returning to their country after being abandoned.”
The post As Israelis rally for hostages, they hope for the last time, Trump’s name is cheered and Netanyahu’s is booed appeared first on The Forward.