My Miracle Mikveh

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Posted with permission from Skip Palter, after a visit to Mayyim Hayyim to mark the completion of a mourning period for his wife, Ann. Hi Carrie, I am writing to share with you that I believe I experienced a miracle on June 14, 2017. And I have been meaning to write to you or someone […]

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What Do You Do When You Can’t Do Anything?

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by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director Nervous. Skeptical. Proud. Curious. Matter of fact. As a Mikveh Guide at Mayyim Hayyim, I am never certain what emotion will present itself accompanying the guest walking through the door. First-timers are sometimes a bit anxious and often apologetic for their naïveté about mikveh. I assure them that […]

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Creating the World We Want to See

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by Carrie Bornstein Last week, Carrie shared these words as she was honored at Mayyim Hayyim’s spring benefit, Soul/Life/Cycle: My first job interview at Mayyim Hayyim was exactly ten years ago this Thursday; less than 48 hours before Eliana was born. At the time I couldn’t decide how I felt about doing a 9th month […]

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Uniting Heaven and Earth: Embodying the Goddess

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by Judy Tsafrir MD I came to Mayyim Hayyim to consecrate, by ritual immersion, the ending and beginning of a 30-year astrological cycle, the Progressed New Moon. My wish for this upcoming cycle is to embody the Goddess, to remember and honor my Feminine Divinity as well as the Sacredness of all of Creation. I set […]

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Resist!

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by Leah Robbins, Administrative and Marketing Assistant This Passover has me thinking a lot about what liberation looks like to me. I wish I could say that the poignancy of our own liberation narrative, from slavery to freedom, have inspired in me words of transformation and moments of comfort and hope. But to be honest… […]

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Mikveh: What I Didn’t Know I Needed

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by Terry Rosenberg, Board Member My personal, direct experience with ritual immersion happened many years ago, and my memory is sweet. But the felt, lived, embodied experience has faded. I love Mayyim Hayyim for the same reasons as so many others – its inclusivity, beauty, and ability to empower me to enact an ancient ritual in […]

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Don’t “Pass Over” the Mikveh

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by Wendy Handler, Mikveh Guide  A friend recently sent me an email that said, “Keep calm and carry on…spring is coming!” with a beautiful picture of budding flowers in my favorite colors. The message did little to soothe my nerves. Spring is coming…translation: Passover is coming, too…heavy sigh…already I anticipate the back-breaking cleaning. The signs […]

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The Gift of Guiding

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by Rene Katersky, Mikveh Guide As I approach another significant birthday, one ending in “0” (aren’t they all significant at this age?), I have been thinking a lot about the self-imposed benefits of turning another year older. I am mindful of my desire to say “no” more often…no to things I no longer feel passionate […]

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Healing

On Mourning and Healing

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by Nadav David Just over a year ago, my grandfather, Abraham Gittelson z”l, passed at the age of 87. Three days beforehand, I sat next to his bed at the Rehabilitation Center in North Miami Beach, reading the morning’s sport page to him and discussing the upcoming Shabbat’s parasha (weekly Torah portion). I fed him […]

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Among the Trees and Grasses

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by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director I feel bombarded… by the news, the noise, the anger, the anxiety. I know we are all struggling to adjust the volume of our interface with our world. Sometimes we need it to be loud and in our face, to wrestle with it, move our bodies with it, […]

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A Treasured Memory at the Mikveh

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by Sophie Hyman I was a little apprehensive about coming to the mikveh. My sister’s girlfriend, Leah (Mayyim Hayyim staff and mikveh enthusiast), encouraged me to explore this area of Judaism that I had very minimal exposure to. I was afraid that I would enter into this beautiful, Jewish experience and feel indifferent, like it […]

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R&R: Rejuvenation and Ritual

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by Cassie Seinuk One night I went out to walk my dog, placed my foot on the step outside my door, and tripped, stumbling down four concrete steps, landing heavily on my left arm. The pain was sharp, and loud, and I knew something was broken, especially when I tried to stand and couldn’t. After […]

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