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Different Focus

Beth Shalom Women's Seder emphasizes women's contributions to Jewish history.

Barbara Lewis

Contributing Writer

W by is this seder different from
all other seders?

All other seders include men
and women; why does this seder include
only women?
All other seders use male God-language;
why at this seder do we use female God-
language?
All other seders talk about four sons; why
does this seder talk about four daughters?
All other seders celebrate the accomplish-
ments of men; why does this seder celebrate
women?
The 65 women attending Congregation
Beth Shalom's annual Women's Seder
March 25 considered those questions and
more.
Led by Beth Shalom President Marie
Slotnick, the celebrants used The Journey
Continues: The Ma'yan Passover Haggadah,
published in 2006 by Ma'yan: The Jewish
Women's Project at the Jewish Community
Center in Manhattan.
"Jewish history, as with most of history,
was written by men:' said Mandy Garver of
Bloomfield Township, a past Beth Shalom
president and a member of the Women's
Seder planning committee.
"This is an opportunity to celebrate
women who played significant roles in
our journey of liberation and peoplehood.
In addition, there's the fact that women
work very hard at Pesach. This gives us an
opportunity to kick back and enjoy an eve-
ning out with the girls:"
The most striking difference between
the Ma'yan Haggadah and the Haggadah
most of us are used to is its optional use of
"female God-language:'
For example, the blessing for wine,
repeated four times during the seder,
sounds like this in the female version:
Baruch at Yah, eloneinu ruah ha'olam,
boreit p'ri hagafen — You are blessed, our
God, Spirit of the World, who creates the
fruit of the vine.
"For centuries, Jews have addressed
God in formal prayer through exclusively
masculine language editor Tamara Cohen
writes in the introduction to the Ma'yan
Haggadah. "While the masculine language
does not necessarily imply a male God, its
constant and universal use has the effect
of gendering God as male. Thus the use of
feminine God-language in this Haggadah
is intended to offer a balance, enabling us
to name God as truly beyond gender and at
the same time, as fully encompassing both
femaleness and maleness:'

32

April 2 • 2015

Cantors Lori Corrsin of Temple Emanu-
El in New York City and Pamela Schiffer

of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East
Lansing

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Sixty-five women attended the March 25 women's seder at Congregation Beth Shalom.

Three generations of Anna Lindemann's family: granddaughter-in-law Erica Cahn,
daughter Debby Stewart, Anna Lindemann, granddaughter Amanda Kost and grand-
daughter Sarah Hack.

their years in the desert.
Instead of the traditional four sons, who
react to the seder in different ways, the
Ma'yan Haggadah describes four daugh-
ters: one in search of a usable past, one
who wants to erase her difference, one who
does not know that she has a place at the
table and one who asks no questions.
The first part of the seder took place
under a tent erected in
the Oak Park synagogue's
social hall, where many of
the women sat on pillows.
Cantor Pamela Schiffer
of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in East Lansing led
the singing, which included
several songs by the late
singer-songwriter Debbie
Friedman. She was assisted
by her friend, Lori Corrsin,
cantor emerita of Temple
Emanu-El in New York
— — – -
City, and accompanied by
Beth Shalom President Marie
Nathalie Conrad on the
Slotnick led the seder.
piano.

The Haggadah also offers blessings in
the traditional male language.
Garver said the feminine language was
thought-provoking. "It really makes you
think about the meaning of the words.
Usually we say them so much by rote:'
But the strangeness was disconcerting to
some of the participants, including Doris
Schey of Huntington Woods. "I had no
problem with the English
translation, but the
Hebrew is so different
from the way I usually do
it:' she said.

New Rituals

At the start of the seder,
participants were given
tiny cups of water, which
they used to fill Miriam's
Cup. Many families now
include a Miriam's Cup
on their seder tables
to symbolize Miriam's
well, which sustained
the Israelites throughout

Several families were represented by
two or three generations, including Anna
Lindemann of Oak Park who was there
with her daughter, Debby Stewart of
Royal Oak, granddaughters Amanda Kost
of Madison Heights and Sarah Hack of
Berkley, and granddaughter-in-law Erica
Cahn of Farmington Hills.
Linda Bell of Oak Park, who chaired the
event planning committee, invited some
cousins who met for the first time. Bell's
first cousin, Rona Zack of Farmington
Hills, brought her daughter, Susan, 33,
who was visiting from Japan where she
teaches English. Bell also brought Mindy
Schneider, 22, whose father is a first cous-
in. Though they both grew up in Detroit,
Susan Zack and Schneider had never met.
The Ma'yan Haggadah asks seder lead-
ers to dedicate each cup of wine to women
who made important contributions to
Jewish history. This year, the Beth Shalom
planners chose to honor women profiled in

Michigan Women Who Made a Difference:
Builders of the Detroit Jewish Community,
a book by Aimee Ergas published by the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.
These included musician and composer
Elaine Lebenbom, former Oak Park mayor
Charlotte Rothstein, travel agent Bee Kalt
and Sylvia Granader, a pilot in the Women's
Airforce Service during World War II.
In addition to Bell and Garver, mem-
bers of the planning committee included
Nathalie Conrad, Fran Hildebrandt, Shelia
Levine, Marie Slotnick and Gretchen
Weiner.
Several men played important sup-
porting roles, including Allen Wolf of
Bloomfield Township and Jack Kahn of
Oak Park, who set out the catered meal and
washed the dishes, and Mark Zacks of West
Bloomfield, the official photographer.

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