- Object Name:
- Miriam Cup
- Artist/Maker:
- Michele Oka Doner
- Bio:
- American, b. 1945
- Title:
- Original Cup
- Place Made:
- New York, United States
- Date:
- 2009
- Medium:
- Silver: cast and hand-worked
- Dimensions:
- 2 1/2 × 5 1/4 × 6 in. (6.4 × 13.3 × 15.2 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Commission: Gift of George and Mildred Weissman in memory of Sarah Stregack and Lillian Grossman
- Accession Number:
- 2010-19
- Copyright:
- © Michele Oka Doner.
Not On View
In the 1980s Jewish feminists introduced a new component to the seder, honoring the prophet Miriam, sister of Moses, who led women in song and dance after the escape of the Jews from Egypt. A cup named for her is placed on the table beside the traditional cup of wine reserved for the prophet Elijah. The Miriam Cup holds water, symbolic of the well of fresh water that accompanied Miriam as the Jews wandered the desert after their flight.
Information may change as a result of ongoing research.