Conversion and Affirmation, Healing, Life Transitions, Marriage and Relationships, Niddah, Parenting

Hineini: Here I Am, a Former Mikveh Dissenter and Bride (again) at 57

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by Nina B. Lichtenstein As a convert to Judaism, I have always said that “doing Jewish” is how my chosen identity anchored and deepened itself, and it has helped explain (to myself) why I embraced so fervently (relatively speaking) the laws of Shabbat, kashrut, and taharat ha-mishpacha (the laws of family purity). These three pillars […]

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Life Transitions

Can I Ask You a Favor?!

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by Molly Goldmeier, Intern I received a text message from a friend last week asking for a “huge-next-level-favor.” When you get a message like that, you never know what you’re getting yourself into. It turns out she wanted my help driving a U-Haul truck from Cambridge to pick up some heavy furniture from her childhood […]

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Life Transitions

Hineni

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by Rabbi Salem Pearce Two weeks ago, I immersed at Mayyim Hayyim with almost a dozen people. The calendar full of appointments, one after the other, we took over the mikveh that early Friday morning. I immersed with my classmates, all of us candidates for rabbinical ordination from Hebrew College. We were to receive smicha […]

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Life Transitions, Men

A Post-Tufts Tevilah

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As graduation day nears, we invite you to consider immersion as a way to appreciate your journey to this milestone. An immersion gift certificate also makes a thoughtful gift for graduates. Originally posted June 21, 2017 by Andrew Wofford When my Rabbi suggested that I immerse in the mikveh to mark my graduation from college, I was rather confused […]

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Life Transitions, Men

A Ritual for Retirement

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by Dr. William Kates After 53 years of practicing clinical psychiatry – almost exclusively around the long term psychotherapeutic treatment of adults – I decided to retire. I looked forward to this time with a mixture of hope and worry: hope that not having the responsibilities for patients would leave me open to other, less […]

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Life Transitions, Potpourri

Held by God

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by 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 […]

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