Join Shampa Mukherji in conversation with Jael Silliman & Nandini Mukherjee about the the timeless relevance of Passover as a beacon of hope, resilience, and communal solidarity, resonating across generations and cultures.
Jael Silliman, was born into the Baghdadi Jewish community of Calcutta; her ancestor was the first Jew to land in Kolkata in 1796 and the Baghdadi community grew from then on .
Jael was educated at Wellesley College, , Massachusetts, Harvard University, University of Texas, Austin, and received her doctoral degree in International Education at Columbia University. She was a tenured Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa, USA. She was also a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, New York.
She is the author of several books, scholarly papers and popular articles for newspapers and magazines on gender, development, race, social justice, women’s rights issues, and writes about her community—the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta.
She has ALSO created a digital archive on the Calcutta Jewish community at https://indianjewishcenter.co.il/bagh…
Jael Silliman dons many hats. She also puts on an artist’s apron and picks up a brush. Painting, Silliman feels, has given her confidence to explore the unexplored parts of her, parts that lay deep down in the subconscious.
Nandini Mukherjee, an academician, who has been a guest speaker at Moksha Talks earlier, will start this session with the opening prayer.
Passover is one of the best known Jewish holidays, as much for its connection to Jewish redemption and the figure of Moses as for its ties with Christian history (the Last Supper was apparently a Passover seder).
It is the celebration of the Jewish delivery from Egypt, from slavery to freedom (13th century BC)
We began with a reading of the Opening prayer lead by Nandini Mukherjee.
Jael spoke about why Passover is her favourite festival – celebrations vary not only among families but also across different countries; the significance of each item on the Seder plate; then we talked about the Plagues (and wondered if there were any modern day interpretations of these plagues); how wine drinking was ritualistic and why there is an extra cup of wine on the seder table and why the door is left open during seder.
We also discussed that since Passover has always evolved to be relevant to every generation how have women now been brought into many Passover seders.
Jael stressed, several times, that Passover was about celebration, family time, ‘bonding with community’ time, a big dinner, wine, story-telling, role play and of course Music.
Moksha Talks Episode 7: A celebration of freedom – The passover story
Join Shampa Mukherji in conversation with Jael Silliman & Nandini Mukherjee about the the timeless relevance of Passover as a beacon of hope, resilience, and communal solidarity, resonating across generations and cultures.
Jael Silliman, was born into the Baghdadi Jewish community of Calcutta; her ancestor was the first Jew to land in Kolkata in 1796 and the Baghdadi community grew from then on .
Jael was educated at Wellesley College, , Massachusetts, Harvard University, University of Texas, Austin, and received her doctoral degree in International Education at Columbia University. She was a tenured Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa, USA. She was also a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, New York.
She is the author of several books, scholarly papers and popular articles for newspapers and magazines on gender, development, race, social justice, women’s rights issues, and writes about her community—the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta.
She has ALSO created a digital archive on the Calcutta Jewish community at https://indianjewishcenter.co.il/bagh…
Jael Silliman dons many hats. She also puts on an artist’s apron and picks up a brush. Painting, Silliman feels, has given her confidence to explore the unexplored parts of her, parts that lay deep down in the subconscious.
Nandini Mukherjee, an academician, who has been a guest speaker at Moksha Talks earlier, will start this session with the opening prayer.
Passover is one of the best known Jewish holidays, as much for its connection to Jewish redemption and the figure of Moses as for its ties with Christian history (the Last Supper was apparently a Passover seder).
It is the celebration of the Jewish delivery from Egypt, from slavery to freedom (13th century BC)
We began with a reading of the Opening prayer lead by Nandini Mukherjee.
Jael spoke about why Passover is her favourite festival – celebrations vary not only among families but also across different countries; the significance of each item on the Seder plate; then we talked about the Plagues (and wondered if there were any modern day interpretations of these plagues); how wine drinking was ritualistic and why there is an extra cup of wine on the seder table and why the door is left open during seder.
We also discussed that since Passover has always evolved to be relevant to every generation how have women now been brought into many Passover seders.
Jael stressed, several times, that Passover was about celebration, family time, ‘bonding with community’ time, a big dinner, wine, story-telling, role play and of course Music.