My name is Taylor Stokes, now Tovah Ilona, and this year I had the honor of immersing at Mayyim Hayyim to mark my conversion to Judaism. This transformative experience was not just the culmination of my spiritual journey — it was the moment I felt truly at home in the Jewish community. In a time […]
Continue ReadingWe’re resharing this past blog post about Beyond the Huppah, our program for engaged and recently married couples. Know someone newly engaged or a couple married in the past five years? A new cohort begins December 7. by Annie O. My husband and I were both raised Jewish, and attended Reform and Conservative religious services […]
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 Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving No, this is not fundraising pitch. I really just want to talk to you about money. (But if you’re interested…) My husband, Nate, and I have lived together for almost four years. But until about a year ago, we’d never had a household budget that we followed, tracked, […]
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 Laura Bishop I did not have a traditional Jewish wedding. In another life, where I married another man, I would have loved to have been under the chuppah (wedding canopy), wrapped in a tallis (prayer shawl), as the rabbi blessed us, our union, and consecrated our marriage under the laws of Moses and Israel. […]
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 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 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 […]
Continue ReadingExcerpts from Keeping the Faith: How Compromise, Curiosity and Tradition Guide One Interfaith Family, by Abigail Mnookin Reflections before the mikveh: For my mom’s 70th birthday this month, my brother and I are giving her an unusual gift. Her four grandchildren will be immersed in a ritual bath, or mikveh, which symbolizes their conversion to […]
Continue ReadingThis month, our blog’s theme is mikva’ot from around the world. Mikveh is a ritual that spans centuries and continents; earlier this month we shared Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker’s encounter with a mikveh in Cuba, and today we’re sharing Samantha Lakin’s trip to a mikveh in Uganda. Stay tuned for next week, when we share about a unique mikveh in Israel. If you […]
Continue Readingby Kelly Banker, Intern A few weeks ago, I was in deep need of a ritual space. I was yearning for a way to mark a rite of passage, a moment in time, with my partner (who is Christian), and yet finding something that would be meaningful for the both of us was feeling increasingly […]
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Please be advised that Mayyim Hayyim will be closed starting July 25 through August 7 while we install critical AC units. Existing appointments will occur as scheduled.
Thank you for your understanding. We will be doing this work to ensure guest comfort during Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah.
If you have any questions, please reach out to info@mayyimhayyim.org
