Posted by Marjie Sokoll
“The world is made up of stories, not atoms.” – Muriel Rukeyser
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is making headlines this month. It is not in her role as a Supreme Court Justice but rather in her role as a Jewish woman writing about the important contributions of five brave women in the Exodus narrative.
Her inspirational essay, “The Heroic and Visionary Women of Passover,” written for the American Jewish World Service, highlights Yocheved, Moses’ mother; Miriam the Prophetess, Moses’ sister; Shifra and Puah, the midwives; and Batya, Pharaoh’s daughter.
Justice Ginsburg‘s words are an exciting new addition to the telling of the Passover story; her hope being that her short essay will be shared at the Passover Seder. She writes, “On Passover, Jews are commanded to tell the story of the Exodus and to see ourselves as having lived through that story, so that we may better learn how to live our lives today. The stories we tell our children shape what they believe to be possible – which is why at Passover, we must tell the stories of the women who played a crucial role in the Exodus narrative.” For many years I have incorporated the powerful story of Miriam and the ritual of Miriam’s Cup in our family’s Seder, sharing her crucial role in the Passover story. The Jewish Women's Archive and JewishBoston.com also recognized this need and teamed up to create the Wandering Is Over Haggadah, a fully inclusive Haggadah that weaves women's voices throughout the Seder.
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