Giving women a voice at the seder table

The story of the children of Israel’s exodus from Egypt begins when Miriam, daughter of Yocheved, saves her baby brother Moses by placing him in a basket and floating it on the Nile to be picked up by the daughter of Pharaoh. Thus we could say that without Miriam and her female associates there would be no Jewish people. We might also conclude from this that the prayers, stories, and readings featured in the Haggadah—the text that traditional Jews read each Passover festival—would feature women in all their glory. But a glance at the Hagga­dah reveals a picture that almost obliterates women.

According to traditional tropes, it is the youngest son who asks four questions, followed by responses from four different sons, five famous rabbis, and the maggid (a male speaker), who relates parts of Jewish history, beginning with Abraham (but not Sarah). Even though the women in the family have probably prepared the festive meal for the evening, their role in the proceedings of the central text of the night is minimal at best.

Poet and liturgist Marcia Falk attempts to correct the gender bias of this ancient text by providing a feminist version of the Haggadah. A professor of Hebrew and English literature, Jewish studies, Bible, and creative writing, Falk is also the author of feminist versions of the blessings and rituals used for daily prayer, sabbath observance, and the high holy days. In Night of Beginnings, her name for the Hebrew God is variously “wellspring of life” (eyn haḥayim) or “flow of our lives” (ma’yan ḥayéynu). These terms are certainly more visceral than the abstract noun that traditionalists prefer. Falk’s métier is to utilize nature as her ground, bringing the pulsating presence of the Divine to the reader.