By Harry and Elaine Wayne When we were planning our wedding 63 years ago, an Orthodox Jewish girlfriend gave us an engagement gift: a book explaining mikveh. The obvious purpose of the author was to encourage use of the mikveh ritual, including instructions on building one’s own in-home mikveh from a TV cabinet. Contrary to […]
Continue ReadingBy Julia Becker Collins, Director of Community Engagement I have often felt that much of my adult life has been about transitions. In the past 13 years I have lived in 3 different states across the country, and with every move I searched for a way to answer the question I saw posed by my […]
Continue ReadingBy Rabbi Gail Diamond A recent visit from Aliza Kline of Mayyim Hayyim to the Conservative Yeshiva in Israel brought up a kind of intense and weird nostalgia and homesickness in me. When Aliza arrived at my work, she called to ask about parking. I said I’d meet her outside and when I got there, […]
Continue ReadingBy Lisa Berman, Paula Brody & Family Education Center Director at Mayyim Hayyim and “Cape Cod Girl” In a recent class at Mayyim Hayyim, I asked a group of adults to recount a memorable encounter they’d had with water – positive or negative – that evoked an emotional response at the time. I was hoping […]
Continue ReadingBy Rabbi Avi Poupko Sacraments are hard to come by in the Jewish tradition. By sacraments, I mean a ritual that is believed to actually be doing something. Our rituals are almost always understood, at least according to mainstream Jewish thought throughout the ages, to be reminding us of something or teaching us an important […]
Continue ReadingBy Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director When I was growing up in Jackon, Mississippi (yes, there are Jews in Mississippi—but not many), the only way to be involved in the Jewish community was to go to services and religious school. So, my family went to services most Friday nights. As a petulant teenager, you […]
Continue ReadingBy Gabriella Spitzer You may have seen my earlier post asking for mikveh stories from queer/LGBT-identified people. Thank you for those of you who responded to my survey! I was doing research for my final project in my Thinking Sexuality class this past semester, and I am excited to share with you some of what […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Incoming Executive Director I just made my donation to support Mayyim Hayyim’s newly named Aliza Kline Internship in Jewish Professional Leadership. I know what you’re thinking… “of COURSE she made the donation – big whoop.” But stick with me here. Yes, I’m a little biased… but take a look at this […]
Continue ReadingBy Gail Elson, Mayyim Hayyim Cohort 1 Mikveh Guide About nine years ago, I saw a notice announcing an information meeting for women interested in volunteering at a community mikveh then under construction in Newton. I had retired and was looking for a hands-on volunteer opportunity within the Jewish community (I don’t do fundraising and […]
Continue ReadingBy Aliza Kline, Mayyim Hayyim Founding Executive Director “Mikveh is fundamentally about marking transitions.” This is the line I have said countless times over the last decade when teaching about Mayyim Hayyim. We all can relate to this. We all go through transitions, large and small, every year, every month, every day – sometimes it […]
Continue ReadingBy Julie Wolkoff, Mikveh Guide The day I bought my first computer I also bought a fountain pen. What can I say? I like balance. There’s a lot to be said for equilibrium in life. I don’t remember a lot of talk about self-care or keeping oneself balanced when I was in school. Those discussions […]
Continue ReadingBy Rachel Renz, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Water is a motif found throughout Tanach (the Bible), and its placement in the Torah can provide insight into its placement in Jewish practice. Where does water appear in the Bible? Its placement is varied. Looking at a few salient instances in the narratives of Noach, Eliezer and Rivka, and […]
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