The Prophetess Miriam Hits Big Time at the Jewish Museum

Two years ago, LILITH commissioned potter Nissan Graham-Mayk to sculpt a “Cup of Miriam” to accompany a new feminist Passover ritual that celebrates the prophet Miriam [see LILITH, Spring 1992]. LILITH thought that Jewish women should have not only new rituals, but special objets d’art with which to secure them. Graham-Mayk’s goblet is now included in a new permanent exhibit at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan, “Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey,” which opened in June 1993.

Seeing the cup in the Museum “brought tears to my eyes,” says Graham-Mayk. “It’s overwhelming to see that the cup— representing a ritual in honor of a woman— has created its own place in our time.”

Graham-Mayk continues to receive orders for the ceremonial goblet from around the country. A Rosh Chodesh group in Georgia used one at an 18-member women’s seder last spring.

“A grassroots movement to include Miriam in her rightful place in the Passover story seems to be underway. I pray that Miriam’s Cup will become a standard part of Passover seders to come,” says Graham-Mayk,