by Hayley Goldstein, Mikveh Guide
When I walk through the arch and down the winding, flower-lined path, punch in the security code, hang my coat up in the closet, and sit down at the desk, I have a distinct feeling that only Mikveh Guides feel. It feels like a fluttering in my heart and belly, a bowing of my head in humility, and a joyous skip all combined into one. It’s the feeling of having absolutely no idea what stories, personalities, circumstances, and emotions will come through the door in my short two-hour shift. It is complete awe at the prospect of guiding people through a ritual that, regardless of the things they bring with them in the building, will leave them feeling alive and ready. This Mikveh-Guide-feeling is my favorite part of my week.
In merely two and a half years, I will be ordained as a rabbi. My job will be to guide people through rituals that mark beginnings and endings, to help people feel alive and ready – ready to live a Jewish life and ready to connect to themselves, community, and God. This is why being a Mikveh Guide at Mayyim Hayyim is the absolute best rabbinic training I could ever ask for. Every week I get to embody the holy curiosity that Mikveh Guides are trained to embody: to be open and welcoming to every story that brings a person down the flower-lined path and through the doors. In less than a year of guiding I have guided people through rituals for birthdays, weddings, gratitude, finalizing a divorce, healing from cancer, surviving a stroke, mourning a miscarriage, and more. I know that what will (God willing) make me a good rabbi someday is the holy curiosity that I could have only learned through my experiences being in this special place.
Click here to learn more about how you can become a part of our upcoming cohort of Mikveh Guides.
Hayley is a third year student at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, and the Rabbinic Advisor of Boston College. She has loved being a Mikveh Guide at Mayyim Hayyim since her training with the 10th cohort in early 2016. Originally from Minnesota, Hayley is a passionate Jewish educator whose other passions include, but are not limited to: making music videos, being a puppeteer, pottery, cooking, and her fat, glorious cat, Yossi.