CELEBRATING WOMEN AND PASSOVER GROUP PLANS 2ND OPEN SEDER.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

VALENCIA - The woman's role in Passover will be celebrated March 28 when the Kochava chapter of Hadassah hosts its second women's community seder.

The group held a women's seder last year that attracted more than 40 women, many from Christian churches who were curious to learn about the Jewish holiday. Building on the positive response from last year, the group decided to hold another seder to inform and involve women.

``It's a new trend,'' said Robin Heinz-Bratslavsky, president of the chapter. ``Passover is a patriarchal event, but things are changing. As advocates for women, Hadassah is doing this as an educational event to teach them about their role in history.''

Passover is the holiday that commemorates the Jews' exodus from slavery in Egypt. The seder is the traditional meal that retells the story of Moses leading the Jewish people out of Egypt in search of the Promised Land.

The program was designed by a committee of local Hadassah members from the Kochava chapter. Currently, there are two active Hadassah groups in the Santa Clarita Valley; the Kochava, primarily for women in their late 20s through early 40s, and Kolot Nashim, for women 45 and over.

She explained that the popularity of the book ``The DaVinci Code'' and the movie ``The Passion of the Christ'' has sparked interest in women's participation in religious events.

``The Last Supper was a seder,'' said Heinz-Bratslavsky. `` 'The Passion,' explores more of Mary Magdalene's role. We have women cantors in the temple. It's changing across the board, and we want to learn about our part. Everybody knows Moses telling the Pharoah to 'let my people go,' but what did his mother or his sister say? You never hear any of the women's voices.

``The only women's role I knew about was that we cooked the meal. Now we can ask the questions and learn why this night is different from all the others.''

The seder, which will be catered, is open to all women in the community and will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Summit Clubhouse. Tickets are $20 per person. For reservations, call [phone] or e-mail kochavagroup(at)yahoo.com.

``The reason events like this are important is they give us a chance to learn about women in history, not just religion,'' Heinz-Bratslavsky explained. ``Their roles are important in historic events that affect how we live today. It really goes back to that feeling of 'I still like to cook, but I want to lead the seder ceremonies, too.'''

Money raised from Hadassah activities benefit worldwide projects such as breast cancer research, literacy programs and trauma centers in turbulent regions of the Middle East.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com