by Rabbinic Pastor Matia Angelou and Cantor Louise Treitman Over eighteen years ago, we wanted to do something special together to prepare for the High Holy Days. We decided that the tradition of immersing in the mikveh could help us as we each prepared to lead services at our respective congregations. We had done musical […]
Continue ReadingMayyim Hayyim is proud to celebrate our founding President Anita Diamant at our Fall Women’s Benefit Event on Thursday, October 17, 7:00 pm at Guilt nightclub on Tremont St. in Boston. Bring your mother, your daughter, your sister and your friends to an evening of special surprises. Click here to join the party! In celebration of […]
Continue ReadingThis post originally appeared on The Jewish Week’s “The New Normal: Blogging Disability“ by Carrie Bornstein Larry had a problem. It was the winter of 2004 and he’d spent years dreaming of becoming a Jew. Following many months of formal study he was ready to go before the beit din, the group of […]
Continue Readingby Pam McArthur Editors Note: Pam McArthur has the record for the most immersions at Mayyim Hayyim. Read her conversion statement, where it all began. 12 Kislev 5760 November 22, 1999 A year ago, when I told friends that I was going to convert to Judaism, some said, “But you’re really already Jewish […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Sandi Intraub, Mikveh Guide Zeh Hayom Asah Adonai Negilah v’nismichah bo, “This is the day that God has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). It was indeed a moment of rejoicing when Sam emerged, glowing, after having immersed in the mikveh. She was now officially Jewish, though […]
Continue Readingby Caroline Potter, Mayyim Hayyim Volunteer I first came to Mayyim Hayyim on a Thursday night in May along with fellow classmates in my Introduction to Judaism class. It was our next to last class, and seeing that many of us were planning or considering converting to Judaism, it was a timely opportunity to visit […]
Continue Readingby Donna Vatnick Water saturates the soil, balms the sky, fills the seas, and swirls between our fingers as we wash our hands before meals. This perfect transparence, a beautiful reflection of the world around us, exists in water. The most striking image I remember from high school biology is that of a water […]
Continue Readingby: Mayyim Hayyim Staff It’s not often that young people immerse at Mayyim Hayyim for reasons other than conversion or B’nai Mitzvah. We are however, thrilled to see a renewed interest in immersion as preparation for Shabbat. For the past three Fridays (and two Fridays in 2012), groups of teenagers participating in the Genesis program […]
Continue Readingby Jessica Lang Kosa My daughter Evelyn was born underwater. Soon afterwards, we collected rainwater for her naming ceremony, and washed her feet in living water as we welcomed her to family and community. Three years later, the two of us immersed together, marking her weaning, and welcoming a new stage of her life […]
Continue ReadingBy Lisa Berman, Paula Brody & Family Education Center Director at Mayyim Hayyim “Irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.” “Isn’t it ironic” sang Alanis Morissette. Many have pointed out that Alanis’ “ironies” were not, by definition, actually ironic. (See a comedic, “corrected” version of her song). […]
Continue Readingby Maya Bery I stand in front of the mikveh with my rabbi’s arm around me. He has brought me here in my final moments as a non-Jew to give me a bracha, a blessing with which to begin my new Jewish life. I’ve just emerged from my meeting with the beit din, the […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director There’s nothing that lowers one’s body image quite like giving birth. Within a matter of hours, I felt like my body went from its cutest, most beautiful form to its least attractive possible form. I know that it’s a good problem to have – many woman with fertility issues would […]
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