Passover 2021: Leaning In & Making It Ours
Instead of dreading another COVID Passover, how can we lean in and infuse this year’s seders with light and meaning?
Let's come together before Passover with some incredible educators who will address 4 questions that give the Exodus story contemporary meaning and a call to action.
As always, the conversation won't be complete without you at our table. We want to be together with you. Tell a friend or family member to join in -- we would love to meet her, too!
HerTorah gathers together a diverse community of Jewish women to connect over our shared heritage, explore our collective wisdom, and elevate our communal experience in learning with and from one another.
HerTorah is directed by Rabbanit Aliza Sperling, made possible in part by funds granted by the Covenant Foundation & the Aviv Foundation, presented in partnership with Maharat, and inspired by each one of us.
Find additional Passover resources for your seder here!
“Unmasking Matza”, Times of Israel — by Rabbanit Aliza Sperling
“A Seat At My Seder Table”, Times of Israel — collected women*s Passover commentaries by Ariele Mortkowitz
Hadar’s Seder Companion 2021
Singing in the Dark: How Do We Find Joy in a Second COVID Seder? — with Rabbi Avi Strausberg
While we find ourselves facing a second COVID seder, in many ways similar to where we were last year, we (hopefully) find ourselves on the verge of nearing a return to our communities and the emergence from the narrow, tight places of the last twelve months. In this session, we'll turn to midrash and the writings of the Eish Kodesh to reflect on what it means to rejoice while still in a dark place. Where might we find hope when we have not yet been redeemed?
Did Tzipporah Matter? — with Zoe Fertik
We don't tend to think of Moses and Tzipporah as one of the great Biblical couples because the text is so quiet about the dynamics of their marriage. Where was Tzipporah during the great Exodus moment, and what was her involvement in her husband's plans? Together let's focus our attention to Tzipporah and recover her participation in the Exodus narrative.
#PutYourMatzoWhereYourMouthIs: How I Started Baking Matzo and Freeing Slaves — with Naomi Baine
Many of us talk about freedom and slavery at our seder on Passover. But how many of us actually do anything about it? I'm not talking about being "enslaved" to the screen, or chocolate, or even societal expectations. While those are lovely conversations, if we don't take the opportunity of Passover to delve into and address the problem of real slavery today, then we might be missing the point. But how?!? Most of us don't know or interact with slaves, at least not knowingly. Join Naomi Baine, co-founder of Mitzvah Matzos, as she shares her story about how she worked her way out of this conundrum using matzo, the symbol of both slavery and freedom at the seder. (For more information and how to order, go to www.mitzvahmatzos.org or see details below.)
Leaving the Narrow Places: A Writing Workshop — with Yael Flusberg
How can the Exodus from Egypt serve as a model for our own re-emergence after a year of Covid? Using four questions/writing prompts, we will begin to move away from the trauma of this year and imagine our next steps.
How to join the Matzo Movement:
To order either soft matzos or shmurah* flour, go to mitzvahmatzos.org and click on the shop link at the top. You'll find detailed instructions there. All products are available at buying club locations; flour can be ordered with direct shipping anywhere in the continental United States! Buy while supplies last!
Current buying club cities are:
Providence, Rhode Island
Sharon, Massachusetts
Natick, Massachusetts
Wayland, Massachusetts
West Hartford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
Westchester, New York
Riverdale, New York
New York, New York
Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Rockville, Maryland
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Eat authentic Matzo. Free Slaves.
*Shmura is a term used to describe either the guarding of the wheat from moisture to prevent leavening until the matzo is baked or the declaration at each stage of the matzo baking process from wheat to matzo that this is intended for use in the mitzvah of eating matzo on Passover. At Mitzvah Matzos, we do both.
This gathering welcomes women* 12+ and learners of all backgrounds.
SVIVAH is dependent on the generosity of those who choose to invest in a powerful community of women. As always, cost should never be a barrier to anything SVIVAH, but if you can, please help us show respect to our speakers/facilitators for their time and expertise. www.svivah.org/donate
Questions about ZOOM or about this gathering? Email connect@svivah.org
*SVIVAH defines "Jewish woman" as anyone wishing to be included in a circle of Jewish women. If you want to be here, we want you to be here.
