by Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director The Mayyim Hayyim community has lost a beloved teacher as Cookie Rosenbaum, zichrona l’vracha (may her memory be a blessing), has passed away. Cookie was one of my first teachers at Mayyim Hayyim. When I trained to become a volunteer Mikveh Guide in 2006, she taught, “Preparation, Niddah, and Bridal […]
Continue Readingby Julie Sullivan, Administrative Director This quote from the Hebrew Bible has always been a favorite of mine. So much so that it was actually my senior quote in my high school yearbook more than 20 years ago. Even back then, I loved the thought that life is a journey filled with highs and lows, […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted February 12, 2014 by Hope Suttin Late last year, my youngest daughter, Liana, and I spent three Sunday afternoons at Mayyim Hayyim participating in their Beneath the Surface class for bat mitzvah girls and their mothers. We joined on a friend’s recommendation and had no expectations. I had attended several fundraisers for Mayyim Hayyim over […]
Continue Readingby Rebecca Sher My eldest daughter got married in late September a few days after Yom Kippur. She was the one who encouraged me to experience my first mikveh at Mayyim Hayyim the summer of 2005, eleven months after my mother passed away. We had just moved back to the Boston area after living in […]
Continue Readingby Amber Caulkins, Director of The Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network One of the values of the Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network is tz’micha / growth. To us, this means being committed to growth and to the process of continuous learning; individually, as organizations, and as communities. Earlier this month Rising Tide hosted […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted January 28, 2015 by Andie Insoft, Mikveh Guide Just a “few” years ago, when I was a teenager, if someone had told me that I would someday be a mikveh guide, I would have said they were absolutely crazy. I grew up in a fairly traditional, Conservative, Jewish home. We kept kosher, attended […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Development It’s always an exciting day when a new exhibit goes up in the Gallery @ Mayyim Hayyim. Since Mayyim Hayyim opened, our commitment to hiddur mitzvah, beautifying ritual life, has extended beyond the spa-like architecture and design of our mikveh pools and building. The principle of hiddur mitzvah dates […]
Continue ReadingOriginally published April 4, 2018 by Naomi Baine My husband and I go to the mikveh together. It may not be common, but for us, it’s great. Here’s why. We observe niddah, the practice of abstaining from sexual intimacy around the time of menstruation. The Torah forbids men from being intimate with women in a state […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted October 10, 2016 by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director The wind swirls today. Is it here to strip us of our unwanted bits, to smooth our testy edges, to burnish the gems in our souls? It bends the trees, branches, and bowed heads. Can it bend us to our own wills, to […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Each year, as Rosh Hashanah approaches I hear a lot of people say, “I don’t feel ready.” Or, “The chaggim (holidays) just came out of nowhere. Are they early this year?” I include myself in this Greek chorus. Amidst high holiday planning, schools start, traffic gets 90% worse, and […]
Continue ReadingBy Steph Black It’s not often you can feel, in real time, pieces of your identity fall into place. Though I was apprehensive to attend, the Rising Tide Summer Gathering was invaluable for me as a person, as a Jew, and as a young woman. I was able to attend because of Naomi Malka, Director […]
Continue ReadingBy Emilia Diamant Mayyim Hayyim is a vital resource for those who, like me, need time and space for the radical act of self-care. That is why, in this season of renewal, I’m asking you to join me in supporting Mayyim Hayyim’s commitment to healing. As together we endeavor to work toward justice, it is easy […]
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