by Rabbi Jaclyn Cohen I first breathed the words “mikveh,” “maybe,” and “going to” my third year of rabbinical school at HUC-JIR, the Reform Movement’s seminary. Well-intentioned classmates and friends – whom I admire and adore – were surprised. Some were skeptical. Their reactions were likely born from the same source as my own misgivings about mikveh: […]
Continue Readingby DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Development Manager Things were kind of noisy during the past few weeks here at Mayyim Hayyim. We brought in contractors to redo all of the floor tiling on the wet side downstairs. When Mayyim Hayyim was originally built about a decade ago, the design included lovely, big squares of wood paneling amidst […]
Continue ReadingDear Readers, We’re celebrating the end of the secular year with a salute to the blog posts you loved the most in 2014. The data is in; these stories are the ones you voted for with your mouse. Follow below to your heart’s content. A happy and healthy new year to you and the ones you love. ~Mayyim Hayyim […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director It’s dark out. Cold. Inside the car we are warm and cozy, zooming along the highway. The heater vents whoosh warm air, creating a soothing white noise. My daughter sits in the passenger seat, eating her dinner from a divided plastic container – cut up chicken in one […]
Continue Readingby Shira M. Cohen-Goldberg This has been a hard year. At this time last year my heart was a well of despair. Some of you may have read about how I emerged from having a miscarriage at 12 weeks gestation last year on this blog. Writing that post was extremely healing for me. Many of you reached […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein As a parent of three young children, I am constantly fielding requests for things: Ima, can you buy me a Superman toy? When can I get a cell phone? Can I have a sleepover? Read me a story. Pick me up. I promise if you get me a dog I’ll take care of […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Guide When I was growing up, each of us lit our own menorah. There were five of us, so you can imagine how beautiful our table was with all of those candles. At some point in my young Jewish life, we started lighting some of our channukiyot by starting with […]
Continue Readingby Salem Pearce, Mikveh Guide This semester, as part of my rabbinic education, I am taking a class on the book of Exodus. Recently, we’ve been studying the account of the revelation at Sinai. In the complicated choreography of Moses (and others) going up and down the mountain in chapters 19 and 24, a question arises […]
Continue Readingby Sherri Goldman, Administrative and Finance Director There was exciting news as my husband’s entire family gathered at our house for Thanksgiving. One of our nieces, Kayla, had just recently become engaged to be married. I thought, what better way to celebrate Kayla’s engagement than with a Gift Certificate for her bridal immersion? Earlier in the day I […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Matthew Soffer When Romeo “oos and ahhs” over Juliet in the most famous scene of any of Shakespeare’s plays, he utters a line that is often misappropriated today: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Translation: His beloved’s name is irrespective of her identity, her beauty, and her “sweet smell.” […]
Continue Readingby Walt Clark, Office Assistant There was an ancient Roman god called Janus who was known as the god of beginnings and transitions. All entrance ways and exits fell under his purview. He was depicted as having two faces, one that faced the past and the other towards the future. Janus is not a widely […]
Continue Readingby Naava Pasternak Swirsky Back in May, Penny Harow Thau and I published a book, There’s a Shark in the Mikvah! A Light-hearted Look at Women’s Dunking Experiences. We had contacted friends and family and used social media to collect funny mikveh stories. After the book came out, I wrote an article for the Times of […]
Continue ReadingSearch
