I thought you were focusing on science and logic to restore ancient understanding of the Creator and His Torah, not medieval excuses -- younger than Christianity or Islam -- to reform Judaism to your whims. Paqid 16, The Netzarim Israeli Orthodox Jew www.netzarim.co.il

I don't understand why everyone is so negative (dare I say 'hostile') about these lovely traditions. Nobody's saying you have to adopt them if you don't want to. And, Number 4, how is this Reform? AIR, Edah is *not* a Reform organization. I, for one, think we'll incorporate the idea of the 4 cups of wine corresponding to Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah.

If Miriam hadn't taken the initiative when she 1, stood up to her father when he left the family home after the decree against male children and convinced him to come back, 2. saw to it that Moshe was put in a basket and put in the water; and 3. convinced Pharoah's daughter to take the child as her own and enable Moshe's own mother to be his wet nurse, we would not have had Moshe to lead B'nai Yisrael out of Egypt. When I was at the supermarket I, somehow, got confused and thought that I had better buy fish with the head (somehow Rosh HaShanah got into my head). At the Seder table I suddenly started laughing about this (never mind that I was a bit 'shikur' on the two glasses of wine I had already drunk). But maybe I was supposed to have bought those fish in honor of Miriam. To number 3, all of the rabbis that were quoted are part of our religious history. How can you dismiss them like that? But, I'm sure you support those rabbis who don't allow you to listen to a woman's voice because of the fact that Miriam sang with the women alone. I'm sure there are plenty of other interpretations. What do you do, pick and choose? Pesach Kasher v'Sameach!

which is the other recommended way to recognize the importance of women in the Passover story. It is far more dignified and appropriate and even though it is too late for this year's Seder I will add it next year. The orange, BTW, comes from a comment by a rabbi to a feminist that "a woman belongs a part of the Seder as much as an orange does on the Seder plate". So there has been some movement to add an orange to the Seder plate but I prefer this positive expression rather than the negative one represented by the orange.

Miriam is the name of Ms. Friend's Filipino maid.

If you read my contribution to the article about cleaning men, you'd know it's a Nice Jewish Boy who does my cleaning, at considerably above minimum wage, too!