The Boston Herald, March 31, 1993:

Since 1976, a special group of women have congregated in New York for a unique celebration of the of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt nearly 4,000 years ago.

Gloria Steinem, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Bea Kreloff, Edith Isaac Rose, Bella Abzug, Michelle Landsburg, Phyllis Cheslar, E.M. Broner, Grace Paley and Lilly Rivlin make up the Seder Sisters.

The Women's Seder (usually held on the third night of Passover) "is the hottest ticket in town," said Broner during a phone interview... After attending years of traditional seders where the men performed the rituals at the meal while the women cooked and cleaned and prepared, Broner said, it was time for a change.

[Broner's new book] The Telling describes the basic changes the group has made, including reading from a Women's haggadah and referring to God as "She." Beyond the traditional matzoh-ball soup and gefilte fish, the menu also caters to the vegetarians and macrobiotics in the group. Instead of leaving a cup of wine on the table for the prophet Elijah, the women welcome Miriam, Moses' sister, to join their festive meal.

More creative interpretations can be found in the discussion of the plagues... Not only do the Seder Sisters reinterpret the original 10 plagues, but each year they call out plagues that have afflicted their personal lives. In 1992, Broner writes, "there were so many plagues, columns of them, a whole portico, enough to describe a dysfunctional society. They called out: Silicone Implants; Homophobia; Crown Heights Racial Strife; The Rape Trials of the Accused—Willie Kennedy Smith, Mike Tyson, the Mets..."

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