by Anita Diamant The Yiddish word schnorrer has more than one meaning. It can be used to describe a habitual moocher, someone who never picks up the check, or a low-level jerk, a no-goodnik. However, the first definition in most dictionaries is “beggar.” There are all kinds of schnorrers: panhandlers on the street, the kid who knocks […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein My daughter is now 6 ½ years old. The same age as many of last year’s victims in the tragedy at Newtown. In the week leading up to its anniversary, I found my mind pulled in all sorts of directions. Thinking about that awful day, imagining the families’ goodbyes on what seemed […]
Continue Readingby Alan Teperow One of the things I love most about Mayyim Hayyim is its fluidity – both in and out of the water. It is this fluidity – engaging people of all backgrounds, embracing diversity and approaching Jewish living with such openness – that has brought the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts (SCM) to Mayyim Hayyim each year […]
Continue ReadingBy Rachel CaraDonna, Mayyim Hayyim Development Intern When I started interning at Mayyim Hayyim, I asked myself a couple inevitable questions: “Will I ever immerse? If so, when? For what purpose?”. It didn’t take me long to conclude that I couldn’t possibly imagine a life transition that meant enough to me. Thoughts of “I’m too young!”, “Nothing’s actually […]
Continue ReadingThe author of this poem wished to be anonymous. This is what she read at the mikveh upon her immersion. I thought I said enough good byes. I have said good bye many, many times. _____After your last breath in our too-quiet bedroom, I said __________good bye _____As I wrenched the ring from your already-cooling […]
Continue Readingby Jody Comins, Development and Events Coordinator Preparation Time: 1 month Shopping Time: 3 days, 6 stores (plus 1 more because we forgot something) Cooking Time: 4 days Ingredients: Favorite Thanksgiving food, Favorite Chanukah Food, Menorah, Candles, Gifts, Family, and Friends Step 1: My parents call to tell us they won’t be hosting Thanksgiving this year because they’ve decided […]
Continue Readingby Terri Ash In one of his seminal works, The Lonely Man of Faith, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soleveitchik speaks of a Covenantal Man. This is the Adam of the second creation story in Genesis. As a Jew, that phrasing has always struck me. We are are a people of a covenant. When our boys are born, […]
Continue Readingby Robin Weintraub A few weeks ago, I became the new Mikveh Center Coordinator. Into the mikveh I jumped with both feet (only figuratively, of course; Mayyim Hayyim and, incidentally, the Rambam advise against actually jumping into the mikveh). Much to my own astonishment and that of those who know me well, I haven’t fallen in […]
Continue Readingby Ari Lev Fornari One of my favorite facts about a mikveh is that the water cannot mekabel tumah, it cannot become ritually impure. Which is to say, it can’t be tainted or contaminated. Not even by a pig, the living embodiment of ritual impurity. When I first learned this concept, I remember releasing a sigh […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Director of Education Recently I had the opportunity to talk about Mayyim Hayyim and mikveh to a group of senior citizens, residents of the lovely Golda Meir House, just a few doors down from our organizational home here in Newton, MA. The turnout was better than I expected with about 19 women […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Ilana C. Garber While it hasn’t always been easy, I’ve spent most of my married life attending the local mikveh in my small town. It’s not as beautiful as Mayyim Hayyim, but the warm waters and kind mikveh guide have welcomed me each month, and I truly enjoy the mitzvah of taharat hamishpacha, family […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein It’s been a while since I’ve written about one of my favorite topics: social media. When we began this blog in 2010 we knew we had lots of stories to share. For those of us lucky enough to spend a good deal of time at Mayyim Hayyim, we’re inspired daily by people […]
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