- October 13, 2024
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To anyone walking into the dining room at Temple Emanu-El on April 2, it would seem that the table was set for a traditional Seder dinner.
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual dinner that involves the retelling of the Israelites liberation from Egypt.
But this Seder came with a twist. The passages read throughout the dinner were passages told from the perspective of women.
"It makes it more relevant to a woman's life than what you would usually find at a Seder," Seder leader Elaine Klein said.
Participants of the intergenerational women's Seder read passages from the perspective of Lillith, cast away after Adam requested a more submissive wife, Eve, and Zilpah, servant to Jacob.
"Do not fear knowledge of yourself or the world, though you may be punished for seeking it," the passage from Eve's perspective read.
Klein said the format is not intended to replace a family Seder, but to supplement the Passover celebration and inject women's perspective's into the holiday.
"We learn of women," Klein said, "but we don't get to hear their voices"
Women of all ages sat around the table in Temple Emanu-El's dining room, hearing their voices elevated in the celebration of Passover.
"We've all had obstacles to overcome," Klein said, "and Passover is celebrates faith and overcoming the obstacles in life."