Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI) alumnae gatherings have always provided us with new information and insights, as well as priceless opportunities to interact with each other, and this day was no exception.
The day began with a teaching from Rabbi Elana Kanter, inspirational founder of the WLI. Most of us had never read about Serach Bat Asher, a granddaughter of the patriarch Jacob, who journeyed with him to Egypt during the great famine. Folklore has it that she lived 400 years and ultimately played a pivotal role in the Passover drama; her acknowledgment of Moses as leader was the lynchpin in the Hebrews’ decision to follow him out of Egypt, despite profound misgivings and fear. As the legend goes, Serach’s father, Asher, had entrusted her with “The Mystery of the Redemption,” a password of sorts, which would be uttered only by the one destined to lead the Hebrew slaves from slavery to freedom. Her declaration that Moses was that leader, and her disclosure to him of the location of Joseph’s remains (to be taken and buried in Eretz Israel), reinforces once again the sometimes obscure, yet important, role of women in the survival of the Jewish people.
Our discussion moved then from the comparative obscurity of Serach to the high visibility of the prophetess Miriam. For many of us, adding a water-filled wineglass to the seder table has long symbolized the integral role that Miriam played in the redemption of our people. Retelling Miriam’s story — from the banks of the Nile thick with reeds, to the tumultuous Red Sea, to the miracle of water in the desert — has always reminded us of her pivotal role in our history. This day, we dug a bit deeper, discussing “Miriam’s Goblet,” a Passover reading originally published in Lilith Magazine. This short essay guided us to a fuller understanding of Miriam’s significance as the embodiment of hope and renewal from her time forward. An excerpt:
“We place Miriam’s Goblet on the seder table to remind us (also) of Jewish women, whose stories have been too sparingly told. On Passover in particular, a holiday celebrating many kinds of birth (that of Hebrew babies in Goshen, of Moses, of the Jewish People, of springtime), we recall women, whose domain, of course, is birth. Beyond the many males in the Haggadah — Jacob, Laban, Pharaoh, Rabbi Tarfon, Rabbi Eliezer, Sisera, Elijah, even G-d as “King” — Miriam’s cup remembers others.”
Traditionally, we incorporate a craft project into our gatherings; this day, we were to design a new kind of Seder plate. Instead of using items that signified aspects of the Hebrews’ life in, and exodus from, Egypt, we each were asked to create a plate that represents our own journey and choose symbols (images, phrases or words cut from magazines) that would convey our own stories. The sharing of these narratives inevitably deepened our connection to one another.
Finally, in acknowledging that any discussion about the seder table must surely involve wine, we closed our day together with a brief wine-tasting experience. And what did we take away from this pleasant diversion? That these days, one does not have to limit “wine for Passover” to the sweet, sweet red wines remembered from seders of yore; a wide selection of kosher for Passover wines from all over the world is now available. What an intoxicating conclusion (not really) to a day of deepening friendships, learning and discovery — with the bonus of providing us all with new material and information to enrich and enhance Passover 2023. JN
Berry Sweet was a founding mentor of the Women’s Leadership Institute and has been an active WLI volunteer for the past eight years. She has held numerous leadership positions in both the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix and was a recipient of Federation’s Medal of Honor for a lifetime of service.
This article was originally published by the Jewish News. The Jewish News is published by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, a component of the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix.
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