Ma'yan is a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
supporting research, education, and advocacy with and on behalf of adolescent girls. Ma'yan is housed in the
JCC in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
.
History
Ma'yan was founded in 1993 by
Barbara Dobkin and Eve Landau, as Ma'yan: The Jewish Women's Project. The organization aimed to empower women in Jewish ritual and contemporary Jewish culture.
The organization was instrumental in popularizing the feminist
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...
, which reconceives the passover rituals in order to celebrate women's role in the Passover story and Judaism as a whole. Ma'yan's feminist seder notably includes a cup for
Miriam
Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...
on the table in addition to the cup for
Elijah
Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible.
In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...
. According to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', "The first Ma'yan seder was held in 1994 with 150 women and a waiting list of another 100 who could not get in. Within a few years, Ma'yan was holding them at a catering space with room for 500 people, and holding them on four consecutive nights."
A feminist passover
haggadah
The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...
, ''The Journey Continues'' published by Ma'yan, sold over 40,000 copies.
Additionally, between 1997 and 2004, Ma'yan published Journey, a tri-annual journal about women and Jewish spirituality.
Transformation
In 2006, Ma'yan re-cast itself. The organization believed it had been successful in creating a change in the Jewish community, as demonstrated by the ubiquity of the feminist seder. "We can give it up because it became mainstream," said Ma'yan co-founder Eve Landau.
Ma'yan changed its name from Ma'yan: The Jewish Women's Project to Ma'yan: Listen for a change and now works with adolescent girls and educators around issues of privilege, social justice, and feminism.
See also
Jewish feminism
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branch ...
References
External links
Ma'yan Official website
{{Women in Judaism
Jewish organizations based in New York City
Jewish feminist organizations in the United States
1993 establishments in New York City
Jewish organizations established in 1993
Feminism in New York City