Women in the Haggadah

Women in the Haggadah

Although women played a dramatic role in the biblical Exodus, they have virtually disappeared from the Haggadah's version of the Passover story.

The Passover Haggadah mentions only one woman, Hadassah (aka Esther) and only in a song for the second seder. This is all the more striking given the critical roles at least five women play in the Exodus story. The midwives Shiphrah and Puah defy Pharaoh’s orders to kill the Israelite boys they deliver, while Yocheved, Moses’ mother, Miriam, his sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter all flout the king’s edicts.

Where Have All the Women Gone?

A common answer explains the absence of women as a reflection of the Haggadah’s central theme: responsibility for the Exodus belongs to God rather than to human beings. But a closer look does not support that view. While it certainly considers God the director of history, the Haggadah features a huge cast of male characters, including the ten rabbinic sages (the number of a minyan), Abraham, his brother, Nahor, and their father Terah; Isaac, Jacob and Esau and their uncle, Laban; Aaron and Pharaoh; David and his father, Jesse; Elijah, Haman, Daniel, Moses (once by name and once indirectly), and a few more, depending on which songs you sing.

The Haggadah’s vision of redemption does not exclude human actors—only women. Yet there’s no good theological reason why the Haggadah’s actors should be men alone. The absence of women is better explained by the cultural milieu of its compilers. Although it should be noted that the Haggadah does not contain the names of the men directly involved in the exodus (i.e. Moses and Aaron).

It may be suggested that the absence of women in the Haggadah also reflects the Hellenistic world in which women were consigned to the private, rather than public, domain. The seder is a perfect illustration of Hellenistic influence on Jewish practice, as it was modeled after the Greek symposium (literally to “drink with”), a banquet to which a learned man would invite colleagues for intellectual discussion over successive glasses of wine. If women were present, they remained invisible.

The traditional Haggadah provides unhappy confirmation of Judith Plaskow’s penetrating observation: “The need for a feminist Judaism begins with hearing silence. It begins with noting the absence of women’s history and experiences as shaping forces in the Jewish tradition.”

Questions for the Seder:

Why are women not mentioned?
Why are the key male players not mentioned?
Why do the Rabbis play such a prominent role in the Haggadah?