The election of a woman as mayor of Beit Shemesh is much more than a personal victory or the lifting of some gender barrier. It is an important indicator of deep-rooted trends in ultra-Orthodox society, which bubbled to the surface on one dramatic election night.

Of all the municipal election victories, including victories by women, the turnover in Beit Shemesh is the most potent and symbolic. It has the potential to shine a light on the deep changes taking place in ultra-Orthodox society.

There were quite a few dramas in the Oct. 30 municipal election. Among these, what happened in Beit Shemesh is certainly the most prominent. Beit Shemesh, a city with an ultra-Orthodox majority, has long been a stronghold of the Mizrahi ultra-Orthodox Shas Party. This Thursday, however, after the soldiers’ votes were counted, it turned out that the election was won by a bold, determined woman named Aliza Bloch. By defeating an incumbent ultra-Orthodox mayor, she overcame the whole political system.

The ultra-Orthodox parties, particularly the Shas Party, invested enormous sums in the Beit Shemesh election so that they could maintain control of a town that had become a bastion of the ultra-Orthodox community. But they failed in the end — and in a big way. Apart from votes by non-Orthodox voters, Bloch won the support of some ultra-Orthodox voters, and particularly of ultra-Orthodox women voters who supported her in secret. All it takes is a look at the photos and video clips of Bloch’s victory speech near the municipal building early in the morning on Nov. 1 to appreciate the enormity of the change. Thousands of people, including ultra-Orthodox men, came to cheer Bloch, who ran a campaign based on unity and without the slightest hint of mudslinging or vilification. This all happened in a city that had its fair share of wars between its secular and religious communities.