Bella Abzug 1920-1998

Gloria Steinhem 1934-

As the Passover season approaches, when Jews throughout the world prepare for this commemorative holiday of freedom, it is appropriate to take the time to recognize well known Jewish feminists activists. Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinhem were chosen because not only were they activists, they were also instrumental in 1976 with 38 other women implementing the First Women's Seder.

Religion, like history is exclusive. Men are in the forefront. Men are the leaders, and heroes, priests and prophets. Women are relegated to the shadows. They are demonized or ignored. Women are minor. Men are major. Thirty-eight Jewish women, along with Gloria Steinhem and Bella Abzug, sought to alter this tradition of omission. Through their united efforts a Women's Haggadah was written for use at the first Women's Seder in 1976.

Each Passover is marked with a traditional meal along with many ritual observances. The meal is called a Seder. Seder means order. The Seder is generally executed by a male in the household. During the Seder the Haggadah is read to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

Today there are scores of Haggadahs. There are interpretive, feminist, gay, gender-neutral, and politically correct Haggadahs. However, twenty-four years ago, variety wasn't so much the option. Many of the choices we are privileged to enjoy today were hard fought for in the last quarter of the 20th Century. These forty Jewish women in 1976, along with women of many faiths during that period had come to realize the correlation between religious discrimination and the social, economic and political segregation of women.

It would be a pleasure to record that these inequities are long past. Refreshingly, there are women ministers and rabbis today. Yet there are religious fundamentalists throughout the world who seek to use religion to regulate women's lives. The struggle for freedom did not end with the passage to Egypt. Each generation and population anew is called to deliberate about the struggle for freedom. In 1976, forty Jewish women including Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinhem sought to give that struggle a feminine character through a Woman's Seder and Haggadah.

Today we take the opportunity to recall that a quarter century ago, a group of forty Jewish women sought to include women in their religious rituals related to Passover, a celebration of freedom. Simultaneously, we should take the opportunity to contemplate the chains that still endure. Whatever religion we might espouse, we might take this time to consider whether that religion excludes or includes women. We might take the time to consider whether that religion liberates or enslaves its congregants. It is imperative to recognize that real slavery is learning to tolerate injustice w