by Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director Exactly ten years ago this week, I walked in to Mayyim Hayyim for my first day on the job. I was hired to be the Mikveh Center Director, the organization’s first full-time professional other than Aliza Kline, the founding director. My hair was a lot longer, I’d been a mother for […]
Continue Readingby Mayyim Hayyim 2017 was a marvelous year for the Mayyim Hayyim, and even more so for our community blog. We published 89 new posts, and our community viewed them over 20,000 times! The content was extraordinary and varied. We’ve categorized our posts by topic – just take a look at the righthand side of your […]
Continue ReadingAt Mayyim Hayyim, we often receive heartwarming thank you letters and emails from guests sharing their immersion experiences. It’s our pleasure to share these mikveh moments with our beloved community. Dear Mayyim Hayyim, Although I was very much looking forward to immersing for the first time before my marriage last month, I had not anticipated […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director It was a freezing, snowy day at Mayyim Hayyim, and we were struggling with frozen pipes in bathrooms and laundry rooms. We still had one working preparation room and one warm mikveh, so we were happy to be able to continue to welcome guests. That morning, a guest […]
Continue Readingby Jim Billings, Mikveh Guide It is finished, and it has begun! Over 30 years ago, I converted to Judaism. I would eventually marry a Jewish woman, and raise a Jewish family. My rabbi was not “into” the ritual of mikveh as part of the conversion process, so I never immersed to complete my conversion, as […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Mayyim Hayyim’s Seven Kavanot for Mikveh Preparation lists seven practical steps for the removal of chatzizot (barriers) that might come between the water and me. This document also offers seven intentions (kavanot) that focus my mind on removing these barriers with loving attention and respect for my body. Having used the […]
Continue Readingby Anita Diamant, Founding President I have to tell you a story. At the recent Reform Movement Biennial, more than 50 participants from all over the world took a field trip to Mayyim Hayyim. The response was — rapturous. Mikveh and Education Director, Lisa Berman, asked those 50 URJ guests how many had never been […]
Continue Readingby Leah Robbins, Administrative and Marketing Assitant January 1st… It’s coming. The new year brings with it a sense of infinite possibility, a childlike sense of hope, a renewed faithfulness in our capacity to fundamentally transform ourselves and the world around us. Of course, we Jews already had the opportunity to take stock of ourselves […]
Continue Readingby Anonymous I grew up in an observant household, and because of that, going to the mikveh was, in many ways, a given for me. Ever since I was old enough to figure out why my mom would go out for a while each month and come back with wet hair, I just assumed that […]
Continue Readingby Amber Caulkins, Director of Rising Tide Mikveh Network A few weeks ago I traveled to Baltimore with two of my Mayyim Hayyim colleagues to attend the Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network gathering. The trip gave us the opportunity to connect with Jewish leaders who are working to create “communities of meaning,” defined by Kenissa […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Jeremy Sher This Hanukkah season, as we get ready to commemorate the rededication of the Temple, I’m thinking back to a very special time of personal rededication: my immersion at Mayyim Hayyim, one of the formative experiences of my life. I had been to Mayyim Hayyim several times to witness immersions, but it […]
Continue Readingby Kimberly Creem Earlier this year, my daughter, Lily, became a bat mitzvah. I’d been looking forward to this for years. Beneath the Surface, Mayyim Hayyim’s program for Bat Mitzvah girls and their moms, sounded like a wonderful idea. When I told Lily we were going to sign up, she wondered if we’d know anyone […]
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