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“It seems simple, the Hebrew word for water. But the mem at the beginning of mayyim is shaped differently from the mem at the end. And so it is when you pass through the water. You begin in one shape and you emerge, still yourself, but changed.”  Mayyim by Pam McArthur, From “The Mikveh Monologues”
 

Keynote Speakers and Noted Authors

Yosef I. Abramowitz, the energetic founder of Jewish Family and Life!, is an award-winning journalist, author and educator. A Forward Top 50 Leader, he is widely recognized for his innovative use of the World Wide Web to transmit Jewish knowledge and nurture Jewish values and identity.

Dr. Rachel Adler is Professor of Modern Jewish Thought and Judaism and Gender at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the School of Religion, University of Southern California. As the author of Engendering Judaism, Dr. Adler pioneered the integration of feminist perspectives into the interpretation of Jewish texts.

Rabbi Lauren Berkun was the creative energy behind the Healing Waters initiative at the Center for Jewish Healing in Metropolitan Detroit where study, rituals and immersion combine to offer spiritual renewal. Known for her dynamism as a teacher, she served as a rabbi for KOLLOT: Voices of Learning sponsored by The Jewish Theological Seminary, and most recently, as Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, MI.

Dr. Paula Brody, Director of Outreach and Training for the Union for Reform Judaism Northeast Council, creates cutting edge professional training opportunities and develops gateway programs to welcome interfaith couples and new Jews into the Jewish community. As a founding Board member, she was instrumental in shaping the vision for Boston’s new mikveh , Mayyim Hayyim.

Dr. Norman Cohen, an inspirational teacher and author, is Professor of Midrash at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Provost of the College-Institute. The insights in his books, Self, Struggle and Change, Hineni in our Lives, Voices from Genesis, and The Way into Torah, offer contemporary Jews a profound connection with our biblical texts.

Anita Diamant is the author of the best-selling novel, The Red Tent, and other works of fiction as well as six handbooks on Jewish life and lifecycle events. She is the founding visionary and Board President of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center and co-creator of “The Mikveh Monologues”.

Rabbi Elyse M. Goldstein, the Director of Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning in Toronto, Canada is the noted author of Revisions: Seeing Torah through a Feminist Lens and Seek Her Out: A Textual Approach to the Study of Women and Judaism. She is the editor of The Women’s Torah Commentary and The Women’s Haftarah Commentary and is a passionate teacher committed to re-creating traditional rituals with contemporary relevance.

Rabbi Daniel Judson is a highly regarded teacher, writer and lecturer currently serving Temple Beth David of the South Shore in Canton, MA. He is the author of four books on enhancing spirituality during milestone moments in the Jewish life-cycle, including The Rituals and Practices of Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal.

Kathryn Kahn, the National Director of Outreach and Synagogue Community for the Union of Reform Judaism, is the innovator of A Taste of Judaism: Are You Curious?, URJ’s gateway program to draw the unaffiliated into Jewish life. She has edited five of the most recent URJ Idea Books, featuring award-winning programs on conversion and outreach to interfaith families. Ms. Kahn has been a member of the Beit Din or served as witness to over 400 conversion immersions.

Aliza Kline is the founding executive director of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center. Mayyim Hayyim was incorporated in 2001 and completed construction and began serving the Jewish community of Greater Boston in May 2004. Over the past twelve years Aliza has worked in range of Jewish organizations in Boston, New York, Israel and Washington, where she has been fortunate to integrate informal education, community activism and organizational development. Aliza earned her Bachelor’s degree in History and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and her Masters in Public Administration from New York University. In Boston since June 2001, Aliza brings experience in non-profit management and a passion for creative Jewish ritual expression to Mayyim Hayyim. Aliza is married to Rabbi Bradley Solmsen who is the director of Genesis at Brandeis University and on the faculty of the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University. Aliza and Bradley are the very proud parents of Ela Kline Solmsen..

Dr. Lori Hope Lefkovitz, Gottesman Professor of Gender and Judaism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, is the Founding Director of Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies. She also serves as Executive Editor of Ritualwell.org, an inspiring and in-depth online resource for rituals to enhance connections to Jewish life.

Dr. Vanessa Ochs is Director of Jewish Studies and an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She is a prolific writer who emphasizes spirituality and bringing Jewish texts and traditions to life through her teaching and her popular books, which include: Sarah Laughed, The Jewish Dream Book (with Elizabeth Ochs), The Book of Jewish Sacred Practices (with Irwin Kula), Words on Fire, and a forthcoming book from JPS on new Jewish rituals.

Barry Shrage, the President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, has shaped the Jewish landscape in Boston and across America through his exemplary Federation leadership and inspiring commitment to building Jewish communities of learning, caring and social justice.

Reb Moshe Waldoks is a renowned nationwide lecturer on Jewish renewal and spirituality. Co-author of The Big Book of Jewish Humor, he is committed to laughter as a path to the sacred. He serves as the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA and is the founder of Nishmat Hayyim, The Breath of Life Jewish Meditation Center of New England.

Additional Conference Presenters

Matia Rania Angelou is a poet, ritual artist, healer and teacher of meditative chant. She has released a CD of original songs, The Indwelling Presence, with the musical trio Ashira. In 1990, Matia founded Nishmat haNashim/WomenSoul to deepen spirituality through Jewish study, meditation, healing and the creative arts. At the end of her term as spiritual leader for B’nai Or of Boston, the community honored her with the title Eshet Hazon/Woman of Vision. This year she is serving that community as Pastoral Resource and Support Liaison. She also works at Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center as a mikveh guide, where, as a member of the Ritual Creation Team, she writes ceremonies to use with immersions.

Lee Apple is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and a member of Park Synagogue. As an attendant at the Charlotte Goldberg Community Mikveh, she has the privilege of being a spiritual guide to women seeking to have a heightened awareness of this ritual. She has become increasingly interested in providing meaningful experiences for women who choose to use the mikveh to mark special moments in their lives.

Lauren Applebaum is the director of Kesher Newton, an innovative Jewish learning program combining Modern Hebrew and Judaica learning with informal after-school experiences. She is a madricha at Mayyim Hayyim and has created curriculum as part of an initiative to develop learning opportunities at Mayyim Hayyim for elementary and middle school students.

Rabbi Lev Ba’esh served Temple Israel of Dover, as spiritual leader, for the past 12 years. He is presently focused on being a creative free agent. Rabbi Lev can also be found teaching Judaism all over New England and officiating weddings and commitment ceremonies worldwide. Rabbi Lev and his partner Andrew are members of Mayyim Hayyim and use the mikveh for life events and Holiday preparation. Rabbi Lev also brings many people to Mayyim Hayyim for conversion.

Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz was born and raised in Montreal. She received a B.A. in International Relations Magna cum Laude from Harvard University and an M.A. and Rabbinic Ordination from Machon Schechter, the Masorati Seminary in Jerusalem. She served for three years as Assistant Rabbi of the Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan before moving to Florida to focus on Adult Education. She has taught the Melton Graduate program as well as Masters Level courses for the Hebrew College of Boston’s Palm Beach branch. She has served as scholar-in-residence at various synagogues in South Florida and the United Synagogue cruise. Rabbi Berkowitz has been published in The Women’s Torah Commentary, Jewish Lights Spirituality Handbook, Journal of Pastoral Care, Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine and the Jerusalem Report. One of the Conservative Movement’s experts on Mikveh, she has recently completed a book on the topic, soon to be published by the Schechter Institute. She is married to Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, JTS Rabbinic Fellow, and the proud mother of Adir and Rachel.

Jeff Berman first heard of Mayyim Hayyim when his wife volunteered to be a guide. Jeff immersed for the first time at the High Holy Days two years ago. Throughout their marriage, Jeff and Lisa have sought to give currency to ancient Jewish practices. Jeff, Lisa, Sarah, and David Berman live in Newton.

Lisa Berman is the Education Center Coordinator at Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center in Newton, MA. She has been involved with Mayyim Hayyim since it opened its doors in May 2004, initially as a trained Mikveh Guide and then as the liaison with area congregational religious schools and adult learning groups to direct their experiences at Mayyim Hayyim’s Education Center. Since its inception, more than 3000 people have come to learn about the ancient ritual of mikveh at one of Mayyim Hayyim’s 150+ educational programs. Lisa, her husband, and their two children are members of Temple Shalom of Newton.

Susan Berrin is Editor of Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, a monthly intellectual journal addressing cutting-edge issues facing North American Jewry. She is also Editor of two landmark Jewish anthologies, Celebrating the New Moon: A Rosh Chodesh Anthology and A Heart of Wisdom: Making the Jewish Journey from Midlife through the Elder Years. Susan is a member of the Academic Board of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, and serves on the board of Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism. She lectures frequently on Rosh Chodesh, as well as Jewish midlife and elder issues. Susan lives with her three children in Newton, MA. The mikveh has served as important ritual moments for Susan after miscarriages and before her wedding.

Kathleen Bloomfield is the Program Director for Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center. She came to Mayyim Hayyim from InterfaithFamily.com, a web site that encourages interfaith families to make Jewish choices. She is also a certified UAHC Outreach Fellow trained to assist individuals with their conversion to Judaism. Kathy is a Jew-by-Choice who converted to Judaism in 1991.

Joan Carr was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in French Education and got her Master's Degree in Jewish Communal Service from the Hornstein Program at Brandeis. Since 1974, she and her family have been active members of Congregation Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham, Massachusetts, where she also served as the Director of Education from 1988 until 2001. She has been the Regional Educator for the Northeast Council of the URJ since July, 2003 and serves on the Board of the National Association of Temple Educators. Before being introduced to Mayyim Hayyim in the spring of 2005, her only previous experience with mikveh was as a witness.  With the support of her rabbi, she marked a transitional moment in her life with immersion in October 2005.

Edmund Case runs non-profit InterfaithFamily.com, which empowers interfaith families to make Jewish choices and encourages the Jewish community to welcome interfaith families. He is a graduate of Yale (1972), Harvard Law School (1975) and the Hornstein Program at Brandeis (1999), past president of Temple Shalom of Newton, and co-editor of The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook (Jewish Lights).

Benjamin Chartock is currently an 8th grader at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. He became involved with Mayyim Hayyim in the fall of 2004 in preparation for his becoming a Bar Mitzvah. Together with the staff at Mayyim Hayyim, Benjamin developed a series of activities that together comprised a “mitzvah project” that added spiritual meaning for him. Along with a graduate student from the Hornstein Program at Brandeis and his rabbi, Benjamin studied traditional texts about mikveh and how they related to his parsha, and how Mayyim Hayyim has worked to expand the role of mikveh in our community today. Ben wrote a personalized set of Kavanot which he used at his own immersion prior to his simcha and invited his entire grade and their parents for a study session and tour of the facility. For Benjamin, this was an intensely spiritual process at a young age and it added great meaning to his “coming of age ceremony”. Equally as important, through his efforts to educate his peers he opened up these doors to so many others. Ben is the son of Amy and Michael Chartock.

Judy Chudnofsky became involved with Mayyim Hayyim at the development stage of trying to fulfill the dream of making Mayyim Hayyim a tangible reality. She proudly sits on the Board of Directors, cultivates 'friends' of the Mikveh and helps in raising the money needed to sustain the institution.  In addition, she has been trained as a Mikveh Guide and joyfully fulfils this mitzvah.

Rabbi Menachem Creditor is an educator, musician, and activist. He is founder of Shefa: The Conservative Movement Dreaming from Within, co-founder of Keshet-Rabbis: The Alliance of Gay-Friendly Conservative Rabbis, and author of The Tisch, an email commentary on Jewish Spirituality. As one half of Shirav, a Jewish folk-music group, he spreads passion, comfort, and joy to audiences around the country. Rabbi Creditor serves as rabbi of Temple Israel in Sharon, where he lives with his family.

Gerard D. Frank, as a founding Partner and President of Bechtel Frank Erickson Architects in 1992, has served as Partner in Charge for the following projects: the reconstruction of Malden Mills Polartec Manufacturing Facility, the restoration of Malden Mills Industries mill buildings, The Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Mikveh and Education Center, and the Jewish Community Day School of Boston. Mr. Frank has lectured in elder care design at Brown University, Harvard Medical School, and Boston University School of Public Health.  Current projects that Mr. Frank is heading include: DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park Expansion, Assisted Living residences in Connecticut, and a community for Hampshire College.

Mr. Frank holds degrees of Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He was twice elected for a three-year term as a Town Meeting Member in Brookline Massachusetts.   Mr. Frank is an affiliate of the National Council of Architectural and Registration Boards.  He serves on the Board of Overseers for the DeCordova Museum. In addition, Mr. Frank has served as a Board member for the Massachusetts Assisted Living Facilities Association (1996-1998).

Rabbi Ilana Garber of Beth El Temple in West Hartford, CT, wrote "Guide My Steps," the curriculum used to train mikveh attendants for Mayyim Hayyim. Rabbi Garber attended The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York for 9 years, during which she received her BA in Talmud (2000), her MA in Jewish Education (2003), and rabbinic ordination (2005).

Michael Gilman is a Boston attorney practicing labor and employment law. He is a past-president of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley where he continues as a trustee and serves on the temple’s Caring Community bereavement team. Michael completed the Rabbinic Aide Program sponsored by the URJ and taught by faculty at HUC-JIR in the summer of 1993. In the summer of 1999 he studied at the Beit Midrash Liberal Yeshiva at HUC in Jerusalem. He was a member of Beth Elohim’s Synagogue 2000 team. He has continued with his Jewish studies in various programs and trained as a Mikveh Guide at Mayyim Hayyim in Newton.

Judy Greene has an MSW and a certification in Jewish Family Education. She was Director of Teen Initiative for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Western MA and Coordinator of the Keruv (outreach) Program for United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in the New England Region. Judy has taught a unique curriculum on Jewish Sex Ethics at Gann Academy, Solomon Schechter Day School, Newton, and Camp Ramah in New England. She also led workshops, and seminars on the subject to youth groups, and Hebrew High Schools throughout the Northeast.

Marion Gribetz is the Director for Institutional and Professional Development at the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Boston. In this capacity she has the privilege to work with lay and professional leadership in congregations, day schools, JCCs and other Jewish learning environments in the Boston Jewish Community. Marion also teaches graduate courses in Education at Hebrew College. It’s been a thrill for Marion to see so many individuals in the community take back the mikveh and take on the practice of immersion.

Rabbi Eric Gurvis became Senior Rabbi of Temple Shalom in July of 1999. His rabbinic career spans nearly 25 years. He is a recognized leader of youth and camping programs in the Union of Reform Judaism and he currently serves as Dean of Faculty and Chairperson of the Education Committee for the URJ Eisner and Crane Lake Camps. Rabbi Gurvis serves on the National Board of ARZA and has served on the Commission on Social Action of the URJ. He has recently been elected Vice-President of the Newton Clergy Association and is past-chairperson of the Boston Area Reform Rabbis group. He also serves as a Vice-President of Massachusetts Board of Rabbis and on the Adult Learning Committee of the Commission on Jewish Continuity of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. Rabbi Gurvis was a contributor to the URJ publication A Taste of Judaism: Are You Curious? – Program Guide. Rabbi Gurvis and his wife Laura have four children: Benjamin, Sarah, Aaron and Jacob and reside in Newton

Rabbi William G. Hamilton is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA. Prior to joining Kehillath Israel in 1995, he served as Rabbi at Temple Beth Abraham in Canton, Ma for five years following his ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1990.
Rabbi Hamilton serves on a number of Jewish and secular committees and Boards throughout the Greater Boston area, including Jewish Community Relations Council, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, United Way, ADL, and Harvard University Board of Ministry. Rabbi Hamilton is married to Dr. Debra Block and they have two children.
 

Richard Hanna is a design engineer living in Cambridge with his fiancée Anna and he is very recently a Jew by choice.  Rich’s Jewish adventure began nearly two years ago, and the mikveh immersion conversion ceremony is the most recent significant event along his path. 

Dr. Suzanne Hanser-Teperow is the founding chair of the Music Therapy Department at Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA and Past President of the World Federation of Music Thereapy. She serves as music therapist and research associate at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and on the Ritual Creation Committee of Mayyim Hayyim where she is mikveh guide.

Merrill Hassenfeld is a retired attorney who has served on the Mayyim Hayyim Board of Directors for 5 years. He has also served as a male mikveh guide.

Susan Sebell Heffron has been married to her husband Neal for 14 years, and they have a 17-month old daughter, Ariella whom they adopted at birth. They had Ariella’s conversion at Mayyim Hayyim and it was an incredible experience for all of them. Susan first learned about Mayyim Hayyim through CJP, where she is on the board of the Women’s Division.

Deborah Issokson, Psy.D., is a licensed psychologist specializing in perinatal mental health and is a co-author of Our Bodies Ourselves: A New Edition for a New Era. With a B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, Deborah spent 7 years teaching and writing curriculum at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, MA. Deborah is co-chair of the Ritual Creation Team at Mayyim Hayyim and is a trained mikveh guide.
 

Bonnie Gerber Jenson was in the first class of mikveh guide cohorts trained at Mayyim Hayyim.  A member of Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley, she is a lifelong learner and currently co-chair of the Leadership Development Committee.  She lives in a newly empty nest in Sudbury with her husband, Jim.

Rabbi Shira Joseph serves Congregation Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham, MA. She was instrumental in building the third liberal mikveh in North America located at Shir Ami in Newtown, PA. Having a liberal mikveh in her synagogue provided Rabbi Joseph unique opportunities to bring several hundred people to the mikveh for a variety of purposes, amongst them dealing with loss. She has lectured extensively about mikveh as well as written liturgy to ritually mark the passages of those men and women that she has brought to the mikveh for purposes of transformation and renewal.
 

Steffi Aronson Karp, a quilter, offers workshops which enable communities to represent themselves through collaborative art quilts. Her 2005 workshops encouraged the creation of 70 fabric invitations to Inspirational Jewish Women. Those pieces were transformed into the quilt installation at this Reclaiming Mikveh conference. While in the Elat Chayyim Davenen Leadership Training Institute, Steffi worked with their year-round community to create the 13’ quilted tree, which is adorned with leaves dedicated to Elat Chayyim teachings.

Dr. Judith A. Kates, Professor of Jewish Women’s Studies at Hebrew College, Newton, MA, studies and teaches Bible, midrash and traditional Jewish commentaries at Hebrew College’s transdenominational Rabbinical School and in many programs of adult learning. She co-edited (with Gail Twersky Reimer) Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story and Beginning Anew: A Woman’s Companion to the High Holy Days. She has taught about contemporary women’s reclaiming of mikveh and participated in several adult converts’ experience of Beit Din and immersion.

Kathy Lord Kates was introduced to the mikveh as part of an Introduction to Judaism class and chose to go to Mayyim Hayyim for her conversion. She has subsequently returned for various educational events at the mikveh, along with her husband Tom. She has been fortunate to be accompanied on her Jewish journey by wonderful teachers, including her mother-in-law, Judith Kates.

Rabbi Andrew Klein has served Hevreh of Southern Berkshire in Great Barrington Massachusetts since his ordination from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in May of 2001. He earned his undergraduate degree is in psychology and education from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, in 1974. Rabbi Klein is currently participating in STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal) PEER (Professional Education for Excellence in Rabbis) – a unique professional development program training newly ordained rabbis across denominational boundaries to build a bridge between the spiritual and secular components of rabbinic life.

Rabbi Jonathan Kraus is the rabbi of Beth El Temple Center in Belmont, MA. He has been active in Outreach work for 20 years. His frequent work with gerim (Jews-by-choice) has made him a huge fan of Mayyim Hayyim and he has been actively seeking ways to expand the use of this amazing resource in the life of his congregation.

Rabbi Judith Kummer currently serves as Director of the Jewish Chaplaincy Council of Massachusetts and of the Jewish Discovery Institute, the Conservative movement's conversion and intermarriage outreach program. She has been a board member of Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center since 2002. Training mikveh guides, conducting conversions and developing rituals for traditional and other uses of the mikvah have been high points of her work with Mayyim Hayyim. Rabbi Kummer co-chairs the Mayyim Hayyim Ritual Creation team and, as a liturgist and songwriter, has had liturgy published in a variety of settings.
 

Alison Kur, Director of Congregational Learning at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Massachusetts, is working with Mayyim Hayyim to develop a sex education curriculum for teens.  Before coming to TBE, Alison helped launch Combined Jewish Philanthropies Leadership Development Institute that trains teams of leaders from local congregations. An active member of the Reform movement, Alison is a past president of the Rashi School Board of Directors. Alison lives with her family in Newton, MA.

Stephen Landau is a 4th year rabbinical student at the trans-denominational Hebrew College Rabbinical School.  A second-career student, Stephen is a carpenter by trade and comes from New Mexico and Texas.  He served as Community Outreach Coordinator for the Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center where he developed a male-involvement program, and was Mayyim Hayyim/Hebrew College Rabbinic Intern 2005-2006, where he served the Men’s Initiative.

Rabbi Karen Landy is the Rabbi of Jewish Healing Connections at JFCS. Rabbi Karen’s work includes outreach to those with HIV/AIDS, individuals with psychiatric conditions and those facing loss. She serves as rabbi to the Reconstructionist Congregation Havurat Shalom in Andover, MA and Westford’s Shir Chadash. Rabbi Karen teaches counseling courses at Hebrew College. She has been involved in creating mikveh opportunities for a number of individuals.

Rabbi David Lerner is the rabbi of Temple Emunah in Lexington, MA since 2004.  Previously he served for five years as the associate rabbi of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, IL after receiving his ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow.  Rabbi Lerner’s interest in mikveh includes immersing at various personal moments, teaching and discussing immersion and speaking about it on the High Holy Days.  He is married to Sharon Levin, a psychotherapist and they are parents of Talya and Ari.

Sharon Levin is a psychotherapist in the Program for Psychotherapy at Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA.  She worked as a therapist in private practice at Womencare Counseling Center in Evanston, IL, specializing in treating women who have experienced trauma.   She has participated in and facilitated numerous creative rituals marking life transitions through mikveh immersion including preparation for marriage, childbirth, miscarriage, and healing from childhood sexual abuse.  She is married to Rabbi David Lerner and is the proud mother of Talya and Ari.

Rabbi Daniel Liben is the Rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick, and is a Vice President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis.  A member of Mayyim Chayyim’s Board, Rabbi Liben is on the faculty of Ikkarim, and is a graduate of Elat Chayyim’s Meditation Leadership Training.  He teaches Israeli Folk Dancing at Camp Ramah of New England.  He and his wife Fran are the parents of five children.

Pam McArthur’s experience of mayyim hayyim began on the 13th of Kislev 5760 when she entered the waters as a non-Jew and emerged as a Jew, filled with joy, gratitude, and no small astonishment at the power of the ritual. Since then she has been to the mikveh before her wedding and her son’s bar mitzvah, and now immerses regularly on Friday afternoons; different every time but always wonderful.

John McNamara has been President of Temple Beth David, since 2003, where he oversaw two major changes in the life of the congregation. The building of an addition, dedicated on April 30, 2006 and the hiring of a new rabbi to succeed Rabbi Henry Zoob who retires after 36 years of service. Prior to serving as president, which he completes in June of this year, John was Vice President of Membership for three years and Brotherhood President. He is a graduate of the Me’ah program and has been a member of the Temple Beth David congregation for 16 years.
In his spare time, he is COO and a founder of Arch Convergence, a company that designs, markets and manufactures a line of switch-router products. He has been working in the high-tech field for 25 years and holds a BS in Chemistry from Boston College, a MS in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, a MBA from Babson College and is a Douglass Entrepreneur winner.

Rabbi Michelle Pearlman is Program Coordinator for the Union for Reform Judaism Department of Outreach and Synagogue Community and Director of Youth and Informal Education for the URJ New Jersey-West Hudson Valley Council. Rabbi Pearlman served as Cantorial Soloist and Music Director for Congregation Kol Ami in Chicago, Illinois where she first learned about the power of mikveh and served on numerous batei din. Rabbi Pearlman remains a strong advocate for immersion. She often speaks of her first hand experience immersing before her wedding, after a miscarriage as well as prior to receiving rabbinic ordination.

Rabbi Barbara Penzner has served Temple Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury, MA since 1995. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, she has served as President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the national Association of Reconstructionist rabbis, and is currently President of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Penzner is a founding board member of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Mikveh and Education Center. One of her first publications was A Mikveh Ritual for Brides, with Rabbi Amy Small, in The Reconstructionist journal in 1986.

Rabbi Carl M. Perkins is the spiritual leader of Temple Aliyah, a Conservative congregation in Needham, MA.  A graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Harvard Law School, he is the author of the revised edition of Embracing Judaism (published by The Rabbinical Assembly), a guide for prospective Jews by Choice.  He is a founding member of the Board of Mayyim Hayyim. 

Rabbi Jay Perlman is the Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, MA.  Prior to his arrival in Boston in 2004, Rabbi Perlman served at Congregatioin Shaare Emeth in St. Louis where he also was the co-founder and Rabbinic Director of the community’s Fleischer Jewish Healing Center.  Rabbi Perlman has been a strong supporter of Mayyim Hayyim and has used the mikveh in his rabbinate on numerous occasions. Rabbi Perlman is married to Emily and they have two children, Liana and Jonah.

Paula Rayman, Ph.D. is Professor of Economics and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts and also a Certified Interfaith Chaplain from Massachusetts General Hospital. A breast cancer survivor, she is the facilitator of the Sixth Day Group at Mayyim Hayyim focused on the creation of A Healing Guide for Jewish Women with Cancer.

Cookie Rosenbaum has observed the Mitzvot of Taharat Hamishpacha for the past 30 years from an Orthodox Halachik perspective. Mrs. Rosenbaum is a Jewish educator with over 25 years of experience.  She is currently the Judaic Studies Principal at the Striar Hebrew Academy in Sharon, MA.  She trained as a certified teacher of Taharat Hamishpacha in Israel with Tehilla Abramov during the school year of 1988-1989.  Cookie has been teaching the laws of Niddah and Mikveh in the US for the last 15 years. She is currently a part time Shomeret at the Sharon Mikveh and has been for the last 6 years.  She is a consultant educator for Mayyim Hayyim.  In the course of her teaching these Mitzvot, she has had the opportunity to teach new brides, including those raised Orthodox, Ba'alei Teshuva and those from the broader Jewish community.  Cookie has also taught many women and men in the process of converting to Judaism through Orthodoxy.  In the past 7 years, since she has lived in the Boston area, she has had the opportunity to teach many women from all walks of Jewish Life about Mikveh and Niddah.

Rabbi Scott Rosenberg is the spiritual leader Temple Reyim, Newton, MA and the Rav HaMachshir of Mayyim Hayyim. He is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly where he currently serves as a member of the Joint Bet Din.

Mina Saidel, M.A. is a board member and past-Sisterhood president of The Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The Park Synagogue runs a mikveh that is open to the entire community, regardless of affiliation. As a Mikveh Attendant, Mina conducts tours and seminars to inform the community of the many ways women are using mikveh in the modern world. Over the past five years she has participated in ceremonies for conversion, brides, pregnancy, miscarriage and personal triumphs and tragedies. The unexpected result has been a spiritual connection with Judaism that she could only have experienced through mikveh.

Elyse Shuster, Sarah’s mom, is a Vice President on the Executive Board at Beth El Temple Center. At Rabbi Kraus’ suggestion, she and several other executive board members participated in ritual immersion at Mayyim Hayyim to mark the transition in leadership and to focus on the meaning of assuming a leadership position in the community.

Sarah Shuster is a 7th grade student at the Chenery Middle School and a member of Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, MA. She has attended the URJ Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA for 5 summers. She became Bat Mitzvah on December 10, 2005. As one of her special projects, she decided to study at Mayyim Hayyim and create her own immersion ritual, under the guidance of Lexi Bock, a Mayyim Hayyim intern. In addition, Sarah invited a group of friends to join her at Mayyim Hayyim for a tour and to learn about mikveh. She gave a talk, created a scavenger hunt as part of her guided tour and answered many questions. As a result of Sarah’s successful event, at least two Beth El B’nai Mitzvah students have decided to make Mayyim Hayyim a part of their learning experience this year.

Marjorie Sokoll is founder and director of Jewish Healing Connections of Boston’s Jewish Family & Children’s Service. JHC helps people in the Jewish community feel connected when facing illness, loss or isolation. Marjorie is a member of the National Jewish Healing Senior Resource Faculty and has been a resource and teacher for Mayyim Hayyim from its earliest days.

Rabbi Toba Spitzer is the rabbi of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in West Newton, an affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation. Rabbi Spitzer is the First Vice President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. She was ordained in 1997 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Rabbi Spitzer has worked with nonprofit organizations devoted to issues of peace and justice and has long been involved in the struggle for peace in the Middle East. An experienced Reconstructionist educator, Rabbi Spitzer has written innovative curricula on the Book of Exodus and on the Reconstructionist prayerbook Kol Haneshama. Rabbi Spitzer composes liturgical and choral music and enjoys accompanying services with her guitar.

Cantor Jodi Lee Sufrin was raised in Toronto, Canada. Her home upbringing and early experiences as lay cantor at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto pointed her in the direction of the cantorate. As a child she sang in the Youth Choir of the highly respected Canadian-Jewish composer, Ben Steinberg. For many years Jodi sang with her older brother, Kerry, specializing in the field of Israeli folksongs. She also pursued a career as a folksinger, serving as warm-up artist for Canadian songwriter and performer, Dan Hill. Fortunately, her parents discouraged her from following this path. Following her graduation from the University of Toronto with a dual major in French and Italian, Cantor Sufrin entered Hebrew Union College, School of Sacred Music in New York City. Since her graduation in 1983, Cantor Sufrin has served as cantor at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA. Cantor Sufrin is married to Cantor Roy Einhorn of Temple Israel, Boston, MA. They have two daughters, Laura and Jessica.

Jennifer Slifka Vidal and her husband Luis Vidal, adoptive parents of Samuel, Lilia, and Monica, recently experienced the moving immersion of all three children at Mayyim Hayyim.  The Vidals worked closely with Rabbi Joel Sisenwine of their congregation, Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, and members of the Mayyim Hayyim staff to plan the incredibly meaningful ceremony for their family.  Jennifer recently “retired” as in-house counsel for her family business.  She serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Rashi School where Sam and Lilia are currently students, and Monica will be in four years!

Rabbi Andrew Vogel serves as rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline, Massachusetts, a Reform congregation of about 260 households. He was ordained as a rabbi from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1998. Rabbi Vogel served Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, GA, for two years before coming to the Boston area in 2000, where he served as associate rabbi at Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, MA until June 2004, when he began his tenure at Temple Sinai in Brookline. Rabbi Vogel graduated from Brandeis University and studied at other institutions of higher learning, including The Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Rabbi Vogel is married to Martha Hausman, who is trained as a lawyer, and they have two daughters, Rosa and Hallel.

Karen Wine has been a volunteer at Park Synagogue since moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1970. Being an attendant at The Charlotte Goldberg Mikvah has allowed her to touch the lives of many Jewish women while enriching her own spirituality. Carrying on the traditions of her ancestors is truly a blessing for Karen.

Lorel Zar-Kessler is the cantor of Congregation Beth El in Sudbury. She works with Rabbi David Thomas to build a community of serious and joyous students of Torah and Jewish life. Lorel has participated in the dream-into reality of Mayyim Hayyim since its beginning by helping to create rituals, celebrating important life-cycle events and finding the joy of Rosh Chodesh within the Mikveh’s walls.

Rabbi Elaine Zecher is beginning her 17th year as rabbi of Temple Israel, Boston. She introduced one of the first congregational healing services 16 years ago as a monthly experience calling it Tefilat Refuat HaNefesh, The Service for the Healing of the Soul. At that time, congregations were offering healing services as a one-time option. Tefilat Refuat HaNefesh served as a national model in its format and in its name. Ten years ago, Rabbi Zecher ran a research project for the Reform movement on healing services. By that time, over 70 Reform congregations had engaged in some kind of monthly or continued healing experience. She, along with Anita Diamant, who served as the research observer for the project, analyzed and compiled the components of the healing services for specifically designated congregations to develop their own healing services. Rabbi Zecher is a Synagogue3000 Fellow and has taught and advised congregations on its healing curriculum. Most recently, Rabbi Zecher serves as the chair of the Liturgy and Practices Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which has produced the new Reform prayer book, Mishkan Tefilah, and where she has also served on its Editorial Committee and Publishing Team. In her capacity as a congregational rabbi, Rabbi Zecher has assisted congregants in developing their own rituals as a means to experience certain important and transforming moments in their lives.

Rabbi Henry A. Zoob has served as the Rabbi of Temple Beth David of Westwood, MA for thirty-six years. He is the founding President of the Rashi School, the first Rosh of the Boston Area Reform Rabbis Beit Din and a board member of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center since 2001.

 

For more information contact Maria Benet
Phone: 781.449.0404 or 888.291.8242  Email:  mbenet@urj.org

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