Like Bread on the Seder Plate

Not since Nice Jewish Girls by Evelyn Torton Beck and Twice Blessed by Andy Rose and Christie Balka has a book so thoughtfully explored the difficult balance of living as both a Jew and a lesbian. The title, Like Bread on the Seder Plate, refers to a tradition that began in the 1980s among Jewish lesbians, whereby they placed a piece of leavened bread on the Seder plate at Passover to evoke their feelings of isolation from Jewish tradition. As one of the first women to be ordained as a rabbi, author Rebecca Alpert asserts a visible place for lesbians within Judaism, reinterpreting the homophobic strictures imposed by the Torah to construct a framework in which Jewish lesbians can feel included and accepted. A brave, accessible, and important book, Like Bread on the Seder Plate is sure to inspire many Jewish lesbians to reclaim a cultural and religious life that previously excluded them. --Kera L. Bolonik