The Women's Passover Companion: Women's Reflections on the Festival of Freedom
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\ Publishers WeeklyThis Passover "companion" for women will be useful to those who desire a new women's Haggadah and ritual or those who simply seek to better understand the feminist themes of the traditional liturgy. The essays address three key subjects: the Passover holiday, the biblical book of Exodus and the new tradition of women's seders. Vanessa Ochs contributes an essay on "setting a cup for Miriam," tracing the evolution of Miriam's cups at contemporary seders and discussing the importance of having a new ritual object for women. Like many of the other essays, Ochs's is enriched by her personal experiences of inaugurating new traditions for Passover; the book's best section, in fact, is one called "Telling Our Stories." (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalEditors Anisfeld, Tara Mohr, and Catherine Spector, a rabbi at Harvard Hillel, a writer, and a law student, respectively, helped organize Jewish Women at Yale, led Yale's Women's Seder, and worked on the Yale Women's Haggadah. These companion volumes reflect their desire to provide both background readings on the many aspects of women's relationships to the Passover holiday, from cleaning and cooking to feminist interpretations of the holiday and the special meanings of a women's seder, and fresh material for the seder itself. The Women's Passover Companion collects commentaries by writers and scholars such as Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Phyllis Chesler, Susannah Heschel, and others, discussing the value of women's seders, Passover rituals for women, Miriam and the women of Exodus, how contemporary women can relate to the lessons of the holiday, and visions and challenges for the future. The Women's Seder Sourcebook, arranged in the order of the seder, provides over 200 suggested rituals, readings, commentaries, and blessings to be used during the seder itself; contributors include Faye Moskowitz, Maxine Kumin, Marge Piercy, Barbara Boxer, Hadassah Lieberman, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as noted women rabbis, activists, and scholars. Both volumes consist primarily of original writings. While a number of very good haggadahs have been published, these volumes succeed beautifully in giving us a wealth of insights on and new connections to the Passover story that will help women create a truly transformative and personally meaningful Passover experience. Highly recommended for public, academic, and synagogue libraries.-Marcia Welsh, Dartmouth Coll., Haverhill, NH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \
