E.M. Broner Obituary - Death Notice and Service Information

NEW YORK (AP) - E.M. Broner, a pioneering Jewish feminist writer, has died in New York City. She was 83.

Broner's death Tuesday of multiple organ failure as a result of an infection was confirmed Thursday by her daughter, Sari Broner.

E.M. Broner was the author of 10 books, including "The Women's Haggadah," ''Weave of Women" and "Mourning: A Kaddish Journal."

"The Women's Haggadah," co-authored with Naomi Nimrod, was originally published in Ms. magazine in 1977. It reimagined the traditional Passover Seder from the point of view of women including Moses' sister, Miriam.

Broner began leading women's Seders in New York started in 1976; regulars included feminist leaders Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug.

Broner wrote that after the 1998 death of Abzug, the New York congresswoman known for wearing wide-brimmed hats, Seder participants began a new custom of leaving a chair empty except for a large hat.

Broner was born Esther Franc es Masserman in Detroit in 1927. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Wayne State University in Detroit and a Ph.D. from what is now the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati. She later taught in the English department at Wayne State, and also taught at Sarah Lawrence College and elsewhere.

In addition to Broner's writings on Jewish identity and ritual, her work included novels, plays and short fiction.

Broner's papers are in the archives at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Sarah Shoemaker, the director of university archives and special collections, said that Broner was well enough to give a telephone interview to a student who was writing about her last fall.

Broner's husband, printmaker Robert Broner, died last year. Her survivors include two daughters, two sons, a brother and two grandchildren.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press

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Esther Broner was an inspiration. She emitted a bright vibe of intelligence and curiosity. She had a special light. Her idea of a Feminist Seder was one of her many unique contributions, along with her novels and short stories. I knew her from the Wayne State University English Dept, Detroit, where I studied for several years; and I knew her husband, an inspiring teacher of mine at Monteith College, Wayne State. Bob Broner was a gentle and wise teacher, and a distinguished graphics artist. He...

Maureen E. Mulvihill, PhD. Brooklyn, NY / Sarasota, Fla.

August 15, 2025 | School

I, very unfortunately, never got to meet Dr. Broner. In fact, I only discovered her writing last year. I am a hospice nurse and an avid reader. When I stumbled across her book "Mornings and Mourning: A Kaddish Journal," I was immediately drawn in. Though not Jewish and not being in a state of acute grieving, her words and her story are and have been helping me to process and name some of my own struggles as a woman. The situations are undeniably different, but the story that Dr. Broner is...

Jen Blake

March 21, 2021 | Student

Jen Blake

March 21, 2021 | Student

Valenda Newell

June 19, 2017 | Indianapolis, IN

Please accept my sincere condolences and sincere prayers that go out to the surviving family and friends. May the God of comfort continue to bless you and yours especially after such an untimely loss of a very precious life please accept my deepest sympathies. (2 Cor. 1:2, 3).

January 09, 2015 | GA

aure thoughts and prayers are with the family.

cecil&judy bacon&christiansen

June 28, 2011 | Harlingen, TX

Remembered By

Nicolus Rod

June 25, 2011

I shared an office with Esther and others at WSU one year in the late '60's. She was very good to her students, well respected by her colleagues, and one terrific person. I was privileged to know her and work with her. Bless her and her family.

June 25, 2011

May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as you celebrate a life well lived.

June 24, 2011

E.M. Broner

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