Journeys To the Promised Land An Analysis of Three Feminist Haggadahs

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Keywords

Judaism, Feminism, Passover, Religion, Jewish, Judaic, Women, Feminist, Seder

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

This thesis addresses the phenomenon of feminist seders in the United States. Over the past thirty five years, feminist Jews across the country have participated in hundreds of feminist seders and written dozens of haggadahs. How did these ritual actors negotiate tradition and change? The choices that actors make in this process of negotiation tell us how they approach and envision feminist Judaism. This thesis analyzes three feminist haggadahs, focusing on their choices regarding liturgy, the Passover story, and the structure of the seder. I found that as ritual actors, the three authors made very different choices in their respective haggadahs. These choices shape�and are shaped by�very different visions of feminism and Judaism. The differences I found in these feminist haggadahs attest to the fact that the feminist seder �movement� is not monolithic. These nuances enrich and deepen our understanding of feminist seders�and of feminist Judaism.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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