"We found that if you don't make a lot of noise, you're not going to get anywhere."

Marvin Kabakoff, Am Tikvah

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

BROOKLINE - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Jews will celebrate Pride Week with spirit and community this Friday evening, June 8, at Hebrew College in Brookline.

The Erev Pride Liberation Seder, an annual event which retells the gay liberation struggle, focuses in particular on the 1969 Stonewall riots, when gay NYC clubgoers resisted a police raid for the first time. Stonewall, which is viewed as the groundbreaking event heralding a new era, led to the formation of the Gay Liberation Front, the precursor to today's active, valiant organizations.

"Up until Stonewall," recalls Marvin Kabakoff of Boston-area GLBT Judaic group Am Tikvah, "gay organizations were very moderate. But like the Civil Rights and Women's movements, we found that if you don't make a lot of noise, you're not going to get anywhere.

"Am Tikvah," he relates, "was the first congregation to put this together, and Boston was the first locale. Although the Seder has been in existence since the early 80's, a lot of the gay congregations around the country have copied and enhanced the format."

"The word seder means 'order'," explains Rebecca France, Sr.

Development Officer and liaison to CJP's GLBT Team. "People often create seders to commemorate important holidays and occasions, like on Tu B'shevat and Yom Ha'atzmua."

Why is this event important to the CJP? "We've had the GLBT Team for two years," she answers, "because CJP is committed to building a more vibrant, inclusive community, and the GLBT Team plays a crucial role in manifesting this vision."

This year, collaborative work with this team has brought varied gay organizations in on the Seder.

Larry Englisher, Member of Am Tikva and one of the originators of the Pride Seder, recounts the event's history. "We decided it was appropriate for Am Tikva to conduct a special service the night before the Parade. Although we participated in an interfaith service at one of the churches in downtown Boston as a kickoff to the Parade, we decided to develop a purely Jewish ritual for ourselves, and to

invite other non-Jewish religious groups to participate in our service.

"We felt that the Passover Seder was the perfect liberation ritual from which to draw. The Passover Seder is one of the most widely observed Jewish rituals, and one that has both religious and secular meaning. So we decided to tell the story of the Stonewall riots around a table filled with symbols from the history of Gay and Lesbian liberation...We later incorporated community awards ceremonies and guest speakers.

"Over time, the ceremony spread to some other GBLT congregations. After a number of years it became a real tradition."

Kabakoff details the symbols used at the seder. "Like matzah and haroseth," we use the pink triangle (worn during the Holocaust), the labyris (symbol of Amazon women), a stone (symbol of resistance at Stonewall), a bundle of sticks (reminder of burnings of gays and lesbians during the Inquisition), the lambda (Greek symbol for fire, represents the active resistance of oppressed people), a flower (symbol of freedom), a round challah (unity of all GLBT people), an

empty dish (for GLBT people who are unable to come out of the

closet), and rainbow flags and candles, which symbolize both the unity and diversity of gay people."

The Seder program includes songs and prayers such as "The Ten Plagues Against the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community" (bashing, homophobia, harassment, parenting discrimination, AIDS*) and "Gay Liberation Dayenu" ("If we were not discriminated against in housing, But were still discriminated against in jobs, * Then It's Not Enough For Us!"*).

"If we keep the Liberation Seder going," Englisher maintains, "we can look forward to leaving a legacy to future generations of GBLT Jews and to our wider communities."

Adds Leah Dorfman of Am Tikvah: "It's a great way to kick off Pride Celebration.

"Retelling the history of the modern Pride movement gives a wonderful grounding and meaning to the March and the festivities that follow."

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Am Tikvah meets at 8:00 at Temple Sinai in Coolidge Corner on the first and third Fridays of every month.

The liberation seder is free of charge; one may call 617-457-8556 to register, or can just show up at Hebrew College, 43 Hawes St., Brookline.