Advocate From Where You Stand: In Eretz Yisrael

The Israeli town of Bet Shemesh has been embroiled in controversy lately due to anti-feminist friction between "secular" and ultra-Orthodox Jews.

A female soldier, dubbed the "Israeli Rosa Parks," was harassed and called a slut because she refused to move to the back of a bus. An 8 year-old girl was repeatedly spat on and called a whore on her way to school for dressing "immodestly" (read: Modern Orthodox) and recently a group of Haredi (Ultra Orthodox) Jews staged a protest when the government removed neighborhood signs demanding that women walk on the opposite side of the street.

Israeli women will not be intimidated.

"On Friday, a group of women staged a flash mob in Bet Shemesh, dancing together in a city square to call attention to a series of escalating incidents. While an estimated 200 to 250 women participated in the Queen dance-along, a YouTube video capturing the demonstration has already attracted more than 71,000 views.

The flash mob was the result of a Facebook campaign launched by women, primarily from the Modern Orthodox community."

Check out the awesome video above! I'm always inspired when I see religious Jewish women unafraid to be feminist. I love how these women used their power to turn the issue on its head. You don't like seeing women? How about 200 of them dancing in the middle of your street! Women of Bet Shemesh, you make me proud to be a Jewish feminist!

-Nancy