Beyond the Huppah

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Mayyim Hayyim is pleased to offer its successful program, “Beyond the Huppah: Creating the Jewish Marriage You Want” beginning this Sunday, March 4 (a few spots still remain!). Enjoy this reprint of a blog post from the program’s facilitator, Judy Elkin, describing one of the remarkably insightful exercises she employs in the program to help couples relate […]

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Monologim Mihamikveh

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Written by Aliza Kline, Executive Director of Mayyim Hayyim                “Monologim Mihamikveh” (“Mikveh Monologues”), was the title of a recent article that my Hebrew tutor, Rona, showed to me. I met Rona through ESRA, an Israeli organization that supports English-speakers moving to Israel. Once a week, we sit at her kitchen table to drink coffee, schmooze, […]

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An Atheist in the Mikveh

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By Janet R. Being an atheist has worked well for me.  I’ve explored religions, never found much meaning in them, and have happily existed as a culturally Jewish non-believer. I’ve never quite understood what ‘spiritual’ means, except maybe it’s what I felt at the end of a couple of yoga classes, or while listening to […]

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Mikveh: It’s Not Magic

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by Carrie Bornstein, Acting Executive Director With nightfall coming so early during the winter, Shabbat lunch with friends often turns into a lazy post-meal afternoon of exhausted parents sitting around enjoying each other’s company, while their animated young children turn the host’s place upside-down.  Hypothetically speaking, of course. On one such recent occasion, the next thing […]

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The Faces of Justice

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By Sara Luria, rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College and former Mayyim Hayyim intern                    “Don’t you care about justice?” Rabbi/organizer Jonah Pesner asked me this pointed question when I told him I want to open a community mikveh in New York after I am ordained. This […]

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A mikveh?!

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Written by Madeline Mayer Last month I visited Israel with my graduate program. As a candidate for a Master’s degree in Jewish Professional Leadership, the goal of this trip was for the students, as future leaders within the Jewish community, to grapple with the different issues and elements occurring within the Israeli Jewish community.  While I […]

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Learning to Love the Mikveh

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By Emma Green, Jewish Educator at Boston Area Jewish Education Program When I was a child, I spent a lot of time hanging out at my local synagogue. I grew very comfortable with most of the building while waiting for my brothers to be done with Bar Mitzvah meetings or Hebrew School, youth group events, […]

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Everyday Gratitude

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By Sherri Goldman, Administrative Director at Mayyim Hayyim                                                               The morning is sunny and bright as I come to work today, walking on the beautiful […]

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Choosing a Name

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Written by Alissa Golbus, Cohort 7 Mikveh Guide at Mayyim Hayyim One of the hardest parts of my conversion process was, strangely enough, choosing my Hebrew name. The opportunity to claim a name that encapsulates my understanding of who I am and who I hope to be as a Jew felt so hugely important that […]

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How I Find My Center

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Written by Amy Chartock, National Programs Director                      Just when life can feel like it is spinning out of control, something magical happens and I feel centered once again.  Do tell, you ask?  What’s my trick? For me, life comes back into focus when I serve […]

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The Gift of the Guide

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Written by Robin Nafshi, Rabbi of Temple Beth Jacob This past June, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. While I was only 50 at the time of my diagnosis, it really wasn’t a shock. My father – and his sister – had cancer. So did his mother and his uncle. And I have since learned, so […]

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Mikveh and the State: Who Decides Who's In and Who's Out?

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Written by Aliza Kline, Executive Director Mikveh is in the news here in Israel. Not regarding the battle of allowing Reform and Conservative clergy to bring conversion candidates to the mikveh – though that’s still ongoing in the courts. This is a new case that could have far reaching consequences – though for me it […]

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