by Jim Ball, Mikveh Guide New Hampshire’s loss is Massachusetts’ gain, two fold. Peter and Betty Shapiro, this year’s honorees at Mayyim Hayyim’s “Open Waters” benefit celebration on Monday, May 18th, are two folks we’re lucky to have in Greater Boston. They moved here a year and a half ago from Concord, where Peter practiced […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Danielle Eskow As a monthly mikveh goer, I had always appreciated the cleansing experience of immersing in the water. The routine enhanced my own life, as well as my marriage. As a rabbi, I had witnessed the powerful experience of a new Jewish person immersing in the mikveh upon conversion. I had not […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director Q: How do you know if you are succeeding at running a warm, welcoming, open-minded mikveh? A: You get a lot of really interesting phone calls and you love answering them. In my role as Mikveh (& Education) Director at Mayyim Hayyim, I love fielding calls because inevitably it […]
Continue Readingby The Viking Jewess My several years-long experience observing the Jewish tradition of a married woman’s monthly immersion in the mikveh, ended abruptly and awkwardly. It didn’t end because I had reached menopause, which would have been the natural conclusion of the ritual, but because of something more complicated: I found myself in the middle […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Dee Port White, Mikveh Guide Last week I was driving down Washington Street and decided to pull into the Mayyim Hayyim parking lot. I wanted to see if it might be possible to immerse. I have wanted to for months, thought about making an appointment, thought about dropping in, and each time, I’ve […]
Continue Readingby Walt Clark, Office Manager It’s Pesach (Passover) at Mayyim Hayyim. Late last week, the staff gathered downstairs to get the kitchen ready for the upcoming holiday. As I was surrounded by the fury of cleaning, I realized that the Mayyim Hayyim kitchen had gone gluten free. I live in a gluten free household so I know the warning signs. Cake is gone. […]
Continue Readingby Gail Kazin With the big 6-0 looming in the wings I had considered how I might celebrate this meaningful birthday. Since neither of my parents had lived to be sixty, I looked forward to the day with tremendous gratitude and some trepidation. At some point I decided that immersion at Mayyim Hayyim was perhaps […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director One morning at Mayyim Hayyim, the doorbell rang. I picked up on the intercom with my usual, “Hi, can I help you?” and was met with a nervous, “Hi… I, um… I wanted to get some information?” I slapped on my nametag and went downstairs to greet our guest. The […]
Continue Readingby Deborah Skolnick Einhorn Nine of us crowded around the mikveh. I sat on the floor with several of my students, while others leaned against the door jamb, squatted by the side of the ‘pool,’ or leaned against a wall. From my vantage point on the floor, I was struck by the variety and state […]
Continue Readingby DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Development Manager “Spring,” that mythic season of thaw and bloom, arrives this weekend. Boston has yet to be convinced. It’s 26 degrees outside as I write this, with the same three feet of snow on the ground as have been there since January. Last week it was sunny and got up to […]
Continue Readingby Eliana Southworth I’ll always remember that July afternoon visit to the Trevi Fountain—the clear blue water glistening under the Roman sun while crowds of visitors, armed with cameras, stood in awe of Bernini’s masterpiece. There, my painting professor told us the legend. To get ready, you stand with your back to the fountain and […]
Continue ReadingBy Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director Q: How do you know if you are succeeding at running a warm, welcoming, open-minded mikveh? A: You get a lot of really interesting phone calls and you love answering them. In my role as Mikveh (& Education) Director at Mayyim Hayyim, I love fielding calls because inevitably it […]
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