Slopes

Additional details

In Mea Shearim, a group of women decides to rebel against the community’s leadership in order to save one of their own from an unhappy and abusive marriage. They use the only ancient and effective weapon at their disposal: abstaining from their husbands. They refuse to go to the mikveh and begin a campaign of abstinence from marital relations until their friend is released from the bonds of her marriage.

“Rebel Women” is a moving and funny drama by Amnon Levy, presenting a women’s struggle for equality in the most unexpected setting. The women of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood decide that the value of mutual aid to a woman in distress outweighs even the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply.” They bravely confront the men, endure ostracism and persecution, and nevertheless continue their struggle despite the heavy price.

Levy, who wrote “Sheyndele”—one of the great successes of Israeli theater—returns to the ultra-Orthodox woman in Mea Shearim and documents her struggle for independence. Levy drew inspiration for the play from a similar campaign of abstinence from marital relations that recently took place in Satmar, New York, demanding the release of an agunah. The campaign succeeded and stunned the ultra-Orthodox world.

Cast: Shlomo Bar-Aba, Rona-Lee Shimon, Henry David, Tali Sharon, Nati Kluger, Noa Rabinovich, Meir Toledano, Gil Weiss
Director: Yehezkel Lazarov