Ma'yan: The Jewish Women's Project
About Ma'yan
Ma'yan History
Ma'yan was founded in 1993 by Barbara Dobkin, the leading Jewish feminist philanthropist in the United States, and Eve Landau, Ma'yan's Executive Director. The organization was created to pursue the broad vision of a Jewish community where women's and girls' ideas, experiences, and bodies are valued, where their needs and concerns are attended to, and where women's leadership flourishes, to the betterment of the Jewish community as a whole.
In our first decade, Ma'yan's work focused on three program areas: Jewish Ritual and Women's Spirituality, Jewish Women's Leadership and Philanthropy, and Jewish Feminist Education. During this time, Ma'yan encouraged the creation and use of innovative ritual objects, hosted educational programs and produced original research reports, and became widely known for its feminist Passover seders, held annually in New York City from 1994 until 2005. The "Ma'yan seder" and its corresponding haggaddah, The Journey Continues, helped to popularize this practice and expand feminist ritual components (such as Miriam's Cups) into countless home observances across the United States and beyond.
In 2006 Ma'yan turned thirteen years old. To mark our entry into adolescence, Ma'yan held a bat mitzvah celebration for friends and family, and launched a new program initative-Koach Banot: Girl Power!-to identify and address the needs of the next generation of Jewish women. This initiative allows Ma'yan to serve girls in the Jewish community in multiple capacities: hosting Strong Voices, Critical Choices, a training institute for Jewish youth professionals, writing for the Jewish and secular presses about gender issues among Jewish youth, connecting local agencies to excellent girls' programs in use in the Jewish community, and creating new and innovative programming for girls. Ma'yan staff members are also available for consultation, training, and technical assistance on a variety of topics related to gender issues, adolescent programming and psychosocial development, and the lives of Jewish girls.
For more information about Ma'yan's work on behalf of women and girls in the Jewish community, visit the "Our Work" section of this website.
Ma'yan
(mä • yän) Hebrew noun, meaning source, well, fountain, spring (the traditional gathering place of women).
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