Empty chairs, mirrors and pomegranates: How Jews are bringing the war to their seder table

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Author: JACOB GURVIS/JTA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

In light of testimony that Israeli women have suffered rape and sexual assault at the hands of Hamas, Rabbanit Leah Sarna is encouraging seder participants to connect with the Israelite women of long ago by putting a mirror on their tables

Those women, according to Jewish tradition, used mirrors in the course of reempowering themselves after facing sexual trauma — a way, Sarna wrote in the Jewish publication Lehrhaus, of "fighting to create Jewish babies" and reclaiming their autonomy.

"Recall the historic suffering and endurance of Jewish women past and present, and let us hope and pray that that same healing will someday be found by our brothers — and especially sisters — in Gaza being tortured today," Sarna wrote.

Sarna's mirror custom is one of many that rabbis, educators and Jewish organizations have put forward as Jews seek to use the ritual canvas of the seder as an opportunity to grapple with the Oct. 7 attack, the Israel-Hamas war and the estimated 130 hostages still held captive in Gaza.

The holiday, which begins Monday evening, comes as the war has passed the six-month mark, while Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel has raised alarm throughout that country and beyond. Meanwhile, there is no immediate prospect on the horizon for the hostages' release. In response, some of the new rituals add to the seder's symbolism, while others seek to adapt age-old practices to the present day.

"Something that's helpful and so beautiful about the seder ritual is this feeling of contextualization of Jewish oppression," Sarna, a rabbi and educator at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in New York City, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The oppression and resistance of Jewish women, she said, "has to be a part of that story."

She added, "It's a part of our story now. And it's been a part of our story, I would say, since Egypt, and I think we need to write it in more explicitly than we ever have before."

Sarna isn't the only one placing women at the center of her ritual innovation. This year, Jewish Women International is encouraging families to add flowers to their seder plates, "as a way to stand in solidarity with the women of Israel — to honor the memory of those who we lost at the hands of Hamas and other terrorists, to give hope to those who survived, and to share our strength with those who are still held hostage."

One Jewish website suggests adding pomegranates to the seder plate "as a symbol of standing with Israeli women" and offers a free...