Esther Broner: A Weave of Women

Feminist writer Esther Broner (1927-2011), co-author of The Woman's Haggadah (1977), is credited with creating the first women's seder—inventing new Jewish rituals from a feminist perspective while retelling traditional Jewish stories from a woman's point of view. Filmmaker Lilly Rivlin's moving profile explores the charismatic Broner's impact on Jewish women, made through her personal religious practices and her writing. Archival video and interviews with contemporaries capture Broner's infectious charisma along with the empowered community she fashioned with her new rites, prayers, and songs. Those who attended women's seders from the beginning recall her “magical vision,” noting the significance of the experience, which allowed them to explore areas in Judaism where women had not been central (or even mentioned); recasting, for example, stories from the Jewish Exodus that focused on women's experiences (and asking how they might resonate with present-day women). Broner's new practices were important to the contemporary participants, but also served as a way of honoring mothers and grandmothers who had few such opportunities for validation or support within their own older religious traditions. A powerful portrait of a woman whose deep faith and powerful literary voice changed the language of Jewish religious practice, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)