by Jordan Braunig, Hebrew College Intern In an education class that I was taking a couple of years ago at Hebrew College’s Rabbinical School, an instructor assigned us the seemingly benign task of watching a few child-development videos on YouTube. I’m as busy as the next guy and appreciated having an assignment that I could […]
Continue Readingby Jim Ball, Mikveh Guide, Cohort 6a I’ve been a mikveh guide for about a year. Because I work from my house and can make my own hours, I’ve been called on often for the many men who have used Mayyim Hayyim for a variety of reasons: upcoming weddings, conversions, bar mitzvahs, and marking special […]
Continue Readingby Julia Becker Collins, Director of Community Engagement When I was 19, I moved from California to Massachusetts. While I moved primarily to transfer from one college to another, it was also motivated by my desire to move back to a place with four distinct seasons. Originally from New Jersey, I discovered after I moved […]
Continue Readingby Cantor Nancy Sargon Sometimes it takes only a few words, a glance or a change in posture to profoundly alter one’s perspective on what is happening. Yesterday I had such an experience while I was at Mayyim Hayyim, participating in the conversion of a three month old baby in the dual roles of Beit […]
Continue Readingby Laura Seide, Development intern For several weeks now, I have felt as if I am teetering on a precipice, yearning to move forward, but wary of the future. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. Even when we want something really badly, we still hold ourselves back. Why? Is it fear? Fear of failure, […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein We made it. October 10; a.k.a. the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishrei; a.k.a. the first day in three-and-a-half weeks we are no longer in the midst of “the holidays.” Phew. In one week we begin the month of Cheshvan, a.k.a. “Mar Cheshvan,” or the bitter month of Cheshvan; bitter because it […]
Continue Readingby Sara Luria The week before my New York wedding, I boarded a train at Penn Station, Boston-bound, to immerse at Mayyim Hayyim. I was flustered and hurried, as brides often are in those logistics-packed pre-wedding days. The instructions in the prep rooms at the mikveh gently urged me to slow down, to reflect, and […]
Continue ReadingOn August 9, 2012, Mayyim Hayyim hosted a group of social workers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to learn more about Mayyim Hayyim’s mission, operations, and how the ritual of mikveh can be of use to both caregivers and those challenged by health issues. Thanks to Jane Matlaw, Director of Community Relations at BIDMC […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Education Center Director It’s a good day when you create a program described as “absolutely, amazingly, awesomely phenomenal.” Frankly, it’s even better when a 12 year old says, “I thought that the girls would all have been forced to come by their moms, but we were all genuinely interested – and it […]
Continue Readingby Gaby Zwiebach My family roots stem both from Peru and from Mexico. The cultures of these two countries have always had a strong influence in my life and in the life of my two older sisters, and eventually in the lives of our respective children. The three of us were born in Mexico to […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Every summer at camp there would be some new rule or some change that would seem to have dramatic and life-altering consequences. A schedule change (but we always swim after sports!), a favorite food item discontinued (but we always have purple bug juice at lunch!), a curfew made […]
Continue Readingby Katherine Trakhtenbroit I hail from a land currently crisped by drought. There are great stretches of live oak trees and loblolly pines along the bayou; when I was small they were thick with glossy leaves and pungent needles. Now, it’s all orange and brown and parched. So, down there, we know deeply the transformative […]
Continue ReadingSearch
