[T]he Hasidic custom of the men dancing before the bride on the wedding night, after the wedding feast. Commonly, the bride, who usually stands perfectly still at one end of the room, will hold one end of a long sash or a gartel while the one dancing before her holds the other end.[1] There are times when one of the leading rabbis, usually her father or grandfather, will dance with her as well. The dance is usually a highly charged emotional moment, wherein the dancer prays silently for the couple's success in life.For some reason, a lively mitzvah tantz video has gone viral on Arab websites, usually with the headline "Oddity of Jewish weddings." Over 70,000 have watched this video since it was uploaded on Saturday:
Most Arabs don't seem to like it, with far more dislikes than likes on YouTube. Many websites include comments like "May Allah curse the Jews."
None of the articles I've seen so far make an attempt to explain the tradition.
