by Donna Vatnick Water saturates the soil, balms the sky, fills the seas, and swirls between our fingers as we wash our hands before meals. This perfect transparence, a beautiful reflection of the world around us, exists in water. The most striking image I remember from high school biology is that of a water […]
Continue Readingby: Mayyim Hayyim Staff It’s not often that young people immerse at Mayyim Hayyim for reasons other than conversion or B’nai Mitzvah. We are however, thrilled to see a renewed interest in immersion as preparation for Shabbat. For the past three Fridays (and two Fridays in 2012), groups of teenagers participating in the Genesis program […]
Continue Readingby Jessica Lang Kosa My daughter Evelyn was born underwater. Soon afterwards, we collected rainwater for her naming ceremony, and washed her feet in living water as we welcomed her to family and community. Three years later, the two of us immersed together, marking her weaning, and welcoming a new stage of her life […]
Continue ReadingBy Lisa Berman, Paula Brody & Family Education Center Director at Mayyim Hayyim “Irony: an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.” “Isn’t it ironic” sang Alanis Morissette. Many have pointed out that Alanis’ “ironies” were not, by definition, actually ironic. (See a comedic, “corrected” version of her song). […]
Continue Readingby Maya Bery I stand in front of the mikveh with my rabbi’s arm around me. He has brought me here in my final moments as a non-Jew to give me a bracha, a blessing with which to begin my new Jewish life. I’ve just emerged from my meeting with the beit din, the […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director There’s nothing that lowers one’s body image quite like giving birth. Within a matter of hours, I felt like my body went from its cutest, most beautiful form to its least attractive possible form. I know that it’s a good problem to have – many woman with fertility issues would […]
Continue Readingby Laura Seide, Former Mayyim Hayyim Intern There was a marked difference between my first dip and my second. Preparing for my first dip, I took my time. I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I was nervous; worried that, while in the water, I wouldn’t immerse my body completely, worried that I […]
Continue Readingby Samantha Testa, Development Intern On my first day of my internship at Mayyim Hayyim it was pouring rain. As I was greeted by staff, I remarked that I hated the rain. Leah’s response effectively changed the way I think about rain. Leah said that she, too, didn’t like the rain, but after working […]
Continue ReadingBy Al Tanenbaum, Guest Blogger *Originally posted on June 12, 2013 on www.rj.org This week’s Torah portion, Chukat, is uncommonly rich with themes of life, death, leadership, and faith. Most often it is thought of for its nearly impenetrable and detailed commandment for using the ashes of an unblemished cow for cleansing those […]
Continue Readingby Rachel CaraDonna, Communications and Social Media Intern Preparing for my interview at Mayyim Hayyim was incredibly nerve-wracking! As much as I read about it online, I was still so far from understanding the real definition of a community mikveh. Would I be greeted by Orthodox women? What’s appropriate to wear? I was afraid […]
Continue Readingby Sheila Goldberg, Member of Mayyim Hayyim’s Education Advisory Committee At a meeting last year of the Education Advisory Committee for Mayyim Hayyim, we talked about ways to bring people in to learn about both Mayyim Hayyim and the new role that the mikveh plays within contemporary, liberal Judaism. I immediately thought of our […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Before I started working at Mayyim Hayyim, I was trained as a Mikveh Guide and Educator (Cohort 6, baby!). Although I enjoy my “day job”, there’s a part of me that misses what got me here in the first place. When I first started guiding, I often chose […]
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