by Phyllis Hirth Here’s my timeline, short and sweet: I was born in Connecticut, raised as a Catholic, moved to New York after college, met my husband, and married into a Conservative Jewish family. My first experience with mikveh was during my own conversion to Judaism. My memory of that is less than pleasant. A woman […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving I once learned a quirky little fact about mikveh: if there is a shortage of rainfall to provide the necessary natural water in the bor (the outdoor water collection that “kisses,” or touches, the clean tap water inside) you can use ice. During the melting process, the transition […]
Continue Readingby Andrew Wofford When my Rabbi suggested that I immerse in the mikveh to mark my graduation from college, I was rather confused and somewhat hesitant. I had known of the mikveh only as a formality, an obligatory element of the conversion process. As the son of a non-Jewish father and a Jewish mother, I […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Last month, for the second time, I attended Limmud FSU (Former Soviet Union), a gathering of Russian-speaking and Russian-adjacent Jews from all walks of life. Last year, after teaching a session on mikveh, I enjoyed my newfound notoriety as “the mikveh lady,” as I came to be known. I […]
Continue Readingby Shira Cohen-Goldberg, Board Member Where are we going, Momma? To a special program, just you and me. What is the program? We are going to learn about water and a special place in our community called Mayyim Hayyim. What does Mayyim Hayyim mean? Is that Hebrew? What are we going to do there? Can […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Mara Young “I didn’t expect this experience to move me as much as it did.” This was the refrain from my fellow travelers as they boarded our bus back to New York. Just a month ago, I had the pleasure of spending 48 hours in Boston with members of my congregation. Mayyim Hayyim […]
Continue Readingby Dalia Wassner On a chilly, fall morning, my 3 kids and I headed out to Brandeis, excited to participate in our first Water Wonders, a Mayyim Hayyim family program for children in grades K-2. Mayyim Hayyim has been a special place for me since the day before my own wedding, just over 10 years […]
Continue ReadingAs Beyond the Huppah 2017 approaches, we are reminded of these unique insights written and adapted by educator Judy Elkin. Imagine it. Ten couples sitting around a table, munching on Terra Chips, hummus and carrots, mixed nuts, and Peanut M&M’s; some soon-to-be married, some already married, in their late 20’s and older, gay and straight, […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Karish, Bronfman Youth Fellow, translated from Hebrew by Daphna Ezrachi, Bronfman Educator The 21st-century world that we live in is one of constant progress and change. The industrial revolution, which began a few centuries ago following the Enlightenment, led to a technological race. In that race, human knowledge continues to grow endlessly, and we […]
Continue ReadingReposted by Mayyim Hayyim in recognition of the recent launch of “Now What?,” a post-conversion curriculum for new Jews and their partners now available for your community! by Cantor Louise Egbert Treitman I converted to Judaism almost 45 years ago and have been immersed in the Jewish world ever since. I was still in college when […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Last spring, I sat in the Mayyim Hayyim Education Center with a group of people who had at some point made the decision to become Jewish. It was the very first session of “Now What? Questions and Answers for Those Who Have Chosen Judaism,” a program Mayyim Hayyim […]
Continue Readingby Sarah Bolts and Michael Chernicoff, Beyond the Huppah Participants fall 2015 Sarah: I honestly didn’t know what to expect from a pre-marriage class. I grew up in the Orthodox community, where pre-marriage classes came in the form of “kallah (bride) classes” in which a bride would learn about the laws of niddah (regular separation of […]
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