Women congregants at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congregation came together to celebrate Passover in advance of the holiday at the synagogue’s women’s seder event, held on March 19. Congregants sang and danced to classic Passover songs and observed the holiday with a special Haggadah designed to reflect contemporary political and societal issues.
The women’s seder had long been a tradition at Har Sinai Congregation, dating back to the 1970s. The congregation merged with Temple Oheb Shalom in 2019, but has kept the tradition alive since then.
“It’s an opportunity for women to come together,” said Aviva Janus, director of congregational learning and programming at HSOS. “Women were key figures in the Passover story, such as Miriam, and we remember her strength and resilience.”
“It’s important for women to be able to take leadership of such an important Jewish ritual,” added Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, HSOS’s rabbi. “As a child, I went to one with my mother and learned about how many aspects of Judaism at the time did not equally include women as leaders.
“We had a wonderful committee of lay leaders who organized the entire event,” she added. “It was a beautiful team effort.”
The women’s seder at Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom is unique not only for its all-female audience, but for its special Haggadah, which has been updated over the years to reflect the state of the world and modern feminist thought. It combines traditional Hebrew liturgy with more contemporary feminist liturgy, creating parallels between the traditional Passover story and events shaping society today.
“Every year, we make changes and add to it based on changes that are happening in the world,” explained Sabath. “Last year, we added a sunflower to the seder plate to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and a special prayer for them as well. This year, I added teachings about reproductive and health care rights.”
A conflict that looms large over this year’s Passover proceedings is the issue of judicial reform in Israel. The planned reforms would weaken the power of Israel’s Supreme Court, a move that is seen as controversial and which has led to large-scale protests and strikes.
Sabath noted that there has been a public movement to place Israeli flags on the seder plate in order to show solidarity with the country. “It couldn’t be a more powerful symbol of Jewish peoplehood and our shared destiny,” she said.
Following suit, the event’s organizers placed a flag on every seder plate at the women’s seder and will be doing the same at a community seder the congregation will be holding on the second night of Passover.
This coincides with a demonstration in Israel to read the Israeli Declaration of Independence before the Haggadah. Sabath noted that she is working on writing a special prayer to be added to the Haggadah that quotes the declaration.
In addition to showing support for Israel and the fight for reproductive rights through the women’s seder, Sabath and the staff at HSOS are thinking toward the future about how they can make the event more inclusive. She said that it is important that HSOS offers a welcoming environment for marginalized individuals to spend their Passover, particularly as the rights of LGBTQ individuals, especially trans people, are under attack from proposed legislation throughout the country.
“We are proud supporters of the LGBTQ+ seder,” she said, in reference to the Baltimore Annual LGBTQ+ Passover Seder held at Bolton Street Synagogue. “Though many issues have improved dramatically, there are still many that remain in need of attention and repair today. We open our seder to all; we certainly have people in our congregation who are transgender or nonbinary, who are welcome to all of our events as well.”
But the core of the women’s seder is still a dedication to offering a welcoming space for women congregants of HSOS to come together and celebrate one of the most important Jewish holidays, and to inspiring hope for a better future.
“It’s a chance to be role models for our daughters and the next generation of women in leadership roles. Har Sinai-Oheb models that beautifully, because our clergy is all female,”
said Janus.
“Calling upon our ancient midwives, calling out to them and celebrating their courage, remains such an important inspiration for us today to continue to work for the rights and freedom of all girls and women in the world,” concluded Sabath. “That is a major theme of the seder, that ‘all who are hungry, come and eat; all who are in need, come to celebrate with us.’ We know that in every age, until all of us are free, none of us can be fully free.”
