C o mmun ity

Spirituality

Detroit
Womens
Forum
hosts
26th
feminist
seder.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

I

t is the grandmother of all feminist seders," boasts
Ruth Driker Kroll, founding director of the Detroit
Women's Forum, which hosted its 26th annual
seder on April 4.
Sixty-five women, age 11 and older, attended the seder
in the penthouse of NorthPark Towers in Southfield.
The first Forum seder was held after Kroll's friend, for-
mer Detroit-area author Esther (E.M.) Broner sent her a
Haggadah she had created with Israeli feminist activist
Naomi Nimrod. The Haggadah is revised annually by
each seder's leader.
Wendy Watson, a Forum advisory board member, organized
and directed this year's seder, narrating the story of Passover.
"We include all the symbolism and everyone has a chance to
write down something they want to get rid of on a piece of paper
and throw it into water," Kroll says. "In the past, we have also
used fire. It is very moving."
The Detroit Women's Forum is a diverse group, with women

60

coming from varying eth-
nic, racial and religious
backgrounds. The Forum is
a project of the American
Jewish Committee.
"It is such a natural for a
diverse ethnic group of
women to attend this seder
together," Kroll says.
"Passover is the Jewish
holiday that we can most
identify with because our
seder has the story of
Miriam," which commemorates the miracle of Miriam's well that
sustained the Jewish people during their journey in the desert."
Women participating in the Forum, subtitled "The Thinking
Women's Network," hold a yearly seder and meet monthly, under
the direction of chair Arlene J. Frank, for programming on eco-
nomic, political and social concerns.
For the first time, a rabbi was counted among the participants.
Rabbi Tamara Kolton of the Birmingham Temple attended. ❑

Clockwise from top..

Irene Sobel of West
Bloomfield pours wine
at the seder table.

Jeannie Meece of
Detroit lights the can-
dles.

Magi Mooney of St.
Clair Shores enjoys the
seder with her daugh-
ter, Marge Mooney of
Lansing

Michelle McKinney of
Detroit sings while
shaking a timbrel.