Written by Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman A few months ago, a well-meaning hasid from Jerusalem was trying to figure out what it meant for the woman he’d just seen lead a traditional mincha-maariv service to be both Jewishly observant and a rabbi. He asked me: Do you keep shabbes? Yes, I responded. You don’t drive? Right. […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Madeline Mayer As I peered for the first time at the glistening waters of the mikveh at Mayyim Hayyim, I felt as if I was truly seeing inside my own soul—this time with a renewed, lucid state of mind. With its beautiful blue stones and tranquil waters, the mikveh enveloped me with spirit and […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin The mikveh has been part of my life for 35 years. I have “taken the waters” in Manhattan, Beer Sheva, the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, Baltimore, and just this past spring, at Mayyim Hayyim. I have written healing rituals for post-partum ceremonies, victims of abuse, rape, illness, infertility, separation […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Carrie Bornstein Apparently, they tell me, not all mikvehs are on Facebook. Or Twitter or YouTube. Nor do they have blogs, for that matter. So why do we? And honestly, isn’t mikveh all about privacy anyway? Is this really something we should be blasting all over the internet? At our spring benefit this […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Carrie Bornstein It’s not every day that a mikveh is born. So when a picture like this arrives in our inbox: you can bet it makes us smile. “Libi Eir” (Awakened Heart) at Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh, NC, is nearing completion. What’s even better? This is not just any mikveh. There are […]
Continue ReadingWhen a person immerses in a mikveh, s/he does so in as close a state to what s/he was like when he or she was born: no make up, no prosthetics, no jewelry, no clothes. When someone comes to Mayyim Hayyim, that person always has the option of having a guide with him or her. […]
Continue ReadingMy first mikveh experience took place in early Elul. Shabbat was approaching at my first week-long Jewish Renewal retreat at Elat Chayyim, and I decided to join the group which was going to do “spiritual mikveh” in the swimming pool. Rabbi Phyllis Berman explained, beforehand, the ways in which our mikveh would be atypical: we […]
Continue ReadingWhen I had heard that Mayyim Hayyim offered mikveh experiences for elementary schoolers and b’nei/ b’not mitzvah, I must admit I was somewhat surprised, given the traditional associations of mikveh with sexuality. But a recent experience made me change my mind, and even lower the recommended age! I recently had the honor of escorting a […]
Continue ReadingWe were so excited about the new opening of Jerusalem Pita in Brookline. We ventured out of our apartment in Cambridge with our 2.5 year old and 2 week old to taste what everyone was talking about. While the dining experience was nothing to write home about, the real experience of the evening came from […]
Continue ReadingWomen go to the mikveh for many reasons. For most, it is seen as a monthly ritual to purify oneself in living waters, mayyim hayyim, after menstruation and preparation for physical reunification with a spouse. I think many women look at the mikveh as a monthly chore, another appointment to fit in to an already […]
Continue ReadingThe Yahrzeit Candle March 29-30, 1997 It was 7:30 on the night before Easter Sunday, and I was about to light my first Yahrzeit candle. Lev Baesh gave this memorial light to me. Two and one-half years earlier after hearing one rabbi’s spiritual presentation at a hospice training session, another rabbi intimately entered my world. […]
Continue ReadingAs a mikveh guide who volunteers regularly, I see the holidays in a way that I hadn’t before—while I have always known they mark time’s passage, celebrations, and events, when people come to the mikveh to immerse for a holiday, I see how some people carry tradition with them by taking time out of their […]
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