Dalya Attar

Dalya Attar-Mehrzadi is an American politician who currently serves in the Maryland House of Delegates. Delegate Attar represents the 41st Legislative District of the state of Maryland, which is located in northwest Baltimore City.[1][2]

Dalya Attar
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates
from the 41st district
Assumed office
January 9, 2019
Serving with Tony Bridges (D), Samuel I. Rosenberg (D)
Preceded byBilal Ali (D)
ConstituencyBaltimore City
Personal details
Born (1990-10-17) October 17, 1990
Baltimore, Maryland
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMarried
ChildrenTwo children
ResidenceBaltimore, Maryland
Alma materUniversity of Baltimore, University of Maryland Law School
ProfessionAttorney

Biography

Early years

Attar was born and raised in Baltimore City in a working-class immigrant family. She is a Sephardi Orthodox Jew born to an Iranian-Jewish father and a Moroccan-Jewish mother.[3][4][5] She studied at a Bais Yaakov School for Girls.[4][6]

Career

In 2011 she graduated from the University of Baltimore earning a Bachelor of Criminal Justice degree. In 2014, three years later, she graduated from the Francis King Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland.[6] Afterward, she worked as a prosecutor at the Baltimore State's Attorney office.[7]

On November 4, 2018,[8] Attar became the first Orthodox Jew elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and the highest-ranking Orthodox Jewish woman in American history.[3][7] Along with Cheryl Kagan, Attar has co-sponsored legislation to help agunot women by preventing a husband from having a civil divorce unless they grant their wife a get.[9]

Family

Attar is the fourth of six siblings,>[10] is married to Asaf Mehrzadi, and they have two children together, Ilana, and Aaron.[6]

Notes
  1. "Members - Delegate Dalya Attar". mgaleg.maryland.gov. Maryland General Assembly. February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  2. "Dalya Attar, Maryland State Delegate". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  3. Deutch, Gabby (March 9, 2020). "The Sephardi Democrat serving as Maryland's first Orthodox legislator". Jewish Insider. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  4. Conte, Carolyn (March 26, 2020). "You Should Know ... Dalya Attar". Baltimore Jewish Times.
  5. "Jew of the Week: Dalya Attar". Jew of the Week. May 5, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2022. Dalya Attar (b. 1990) was born in Baltimore to a religious Sephardic family of Iranian and Moroccan heritage.
  6. Arnold, Peter (June 9, 2017). "Jmore Exclusive: Orthodox Lawyer Runs for House of Delegates". JMore.
  7. Rabbi Shraga Simmons (January 4, 2020). "The Highest-Ranking Elected Orthodox Jewish Woman politician in U.S. History". Aish HaTorah. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  8. Maryland House of Delegates District 41. Ballotpedia
  9. Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (January 7, 2020). "2020 is the year Maryland will finally help 'chained' Jewish women". Washington Jewish Week. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  10. Weiss, Melissa (March 9, 2020). "The Sephardi Democrat serving as Maryland's first Orthodox legislator". Jewish Insider. Retrieved April 5, 2023.


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