by Caroline Potter, Mayyim Hayyim Volunteer I first came to Mayyim Hayyim on a Thursday night in May along with fellow classmates in my Introduction to Judaism class. It was our next to last class, and seeing that many of us were planning or considering converting to Judaism, it was a timely opportunity to visit […]
Continue Readingby: Mayyim Hayyim Staff It’s not often that young people immerse at Mayyim Hayyim for reasons other than conversion or B’nai Mitzvah. We are however, thrilled to see a renewed interest in immersion as preparation for Shabbat. For the past three Fridays (and two Fridays in 2012), groups of teenagers participating in the Genesis program […]
Continue ReadingFrom time to time, Mayyim Hayyim staff read through our guest book. It’s quite fulfilling to read about people’s immersion experience(s) in their words. Sometimes people come to mark the ending of an illness or medical treatment or relationship, but their words often sound hopeful for a new beginning. Here are a few entries… This […]
Continue Readingby Jennifer Slifka Vidal, President of the Board of Directors Eat more plant-based foods. Try yoga…….again Revel in my new role as President of the Board Directors of Mayyim Hayyim Seven years ago, my husband Luis and I brought our three children, who were adopted as infants, and were then 5 months, 7, and 9 […]
Continue Readingby Laura Seide, Development intern For several weeks now, I have felt as if I am teetering on a precipice, yearning to move forward, but wary of the future. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. Even when we want something really badly, we still hold ourselves back. Why? Is it fear? Fear of failure, […]
Continue ReadingBy Harry and Elaine Wayne When we were planning our wedding 63 years ago, an Orthodox Jewish girlfriend gave us an engagement gift: a book explaining mikveh. The obvious purpose of the author was to encourage use of the mikveh ritual, including instructions on building one’s own in-home mikveh from a TV cabinet. Contrary to […]
Continue ReadingBy Aliza Kline, Mayyim Hayyim Founding Executive Director “Mikveh is fundamentally about marking transitions.” This is the line I have said countless times over the last decade when teaching about Mayyim Hayyim. We all can relate to this. We all go through transitions, large and small, every year, every month, every day – sometimes it […]
Continue ReadingBy Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Calm is not typically a word I would use to describe myself; I’m loud, energetic, busy and have two small boys. I have almost always worked at more than one job at a time, and, for much of my life, have been looking around the corner to see […]
Continue ReadingWritten By Aliza Kline, Founding Executive Director of Mayyim Hayyim About 10 days ago I had the opportunity to teach about Mayyim Hayyim to first-year students at the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College. I love teaching seminary students; they are eager to learn and find connections between their personal spiritual journey and Jewish practice. […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Aliza Kline In just a little over a week my family and I will embark on a big adventure – a 10-month sabbatical in Israel. This will be the year that we look back on; the myth that shapes our family’s story. I will return next summer to a strong and healthy Mayyim […]
Continue ReadingWhen my wife announced she was taking us to a mikveh to begin the celebration of my 50th birthday I was worried. Do men use mikvehs? Will I know what to do? Will I be held under water? Will I need to know Hebrew? Will it be awkward? Will I be quizzed about my support […]
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