E. M. Broner

Esther M. Broner, best known as E.M. Broner, Ph.D., Professor Emerita (July 8, 1927 – June 21, 2011) was a Jewish American feminist author.

Broner was the author of ten books, including The Women's Haggadah; Weave of Women; The Telling: The Story of a Group of Jewish Women Who Journey to Spirituality through Community and Ceremony; and Mornings and Mourning: A Kaddish Journal. Broner had also written radio scripts for National Public Radio and plays. Her musical, “Higginson: An American Life,” premiered June 17, 2005, by the Michigan Opera Theatre (Broner, book & lyrics; Mort Zieve, music).

In 1976, the first women-only Passover seder was held in Broner's New York City apartment and led by her, with 13 women attending, including Gloria Steinem, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Phyllis Chesler. Broner and Naomi Nimrod created a women's haggadah for use at this seder. In the spring of 1976 Broner published this “Women’s Haggadah” in Ms. magazine, later publishing it as a book in 1994; this haggadah is meant to include women where only men had been mentioned in traditional haggadahs, and it features the Wise Women, the Four Daughters, the Women’s Questions, the Women’s Plagues, and a women-centric “Dayenu”. The original Women's Seder has been held with the Women's Haggadah every year since 1976, and women-only seders are now held by some congregations as well. Broner led the original Women's Seder for 30 years. She was proclaimed a Wonder Woman by the Wonder Woman Foundation for her work in feminist Jewish ritual.

Broner was married to the printmaker/painter Robert Broner, and they had four children together.

The E.M. Broner collection is held at Brandeis University.

...
Wikipedia