Why Membership Matters

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by Sherri Goldman, Administrative and Finance Director  “Membership at Mayyim Hayyim allows me to focus on myself. My membership allows me to immerse as many times as I want, focusing solely on my kavanah (direction of my heart); I have no concerns or thoughts about anything else.” “I feel completely supported by Mayyim Hayyim. My membership […]

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Gathering the Waters

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by Arlyn Miller This post begins a three-part series of poems inspired by our Gathering the Waters International Mikveh Conference in 2010. Approach the water. Bring who you are and what you have lost. In its transparency the water holds every color. Like light – every color contained; though we cannot see this, for seeing […]

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Living Waters…Indeed

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by Michelle Citrin  Below is taken from a mail exchange between Anita Diamant and Michelle Citrin, who performed at our fall event, Roasting and Toasting Anita Diamant Dear Anita, So…it’s 3:54am and I’m semi wide asleep/wake and just reflecting on a very special day that I wanted to share with you. It started at 8:45am, when I opened my […]

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Keep Asking Why

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by Aliza Kline This is the season for asking questions – often in groups of four (though my father, and my seven year-old daughter will both argue that at the Seder we ask one question and then offer four responses). Let’s not stop just because the holiday has past. What if we keep asking why? […]

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Where’s the Ritual?

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This post is part of a series of blog posts about niddah entitled Sacred Bodies, Sacred Time.  Read more here – and submit your own post. by Rachel Lieberman Before I had my first mikveh experience, I was forewarned- “Don’t be disoriented. When you get to the preparation room, there will just be a list of […]

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Finding Inspiration

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by Sherri Goldman, Administrative and Finance Director in·spi·ra·tion – the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something; the drawing in of breath; inhalation. I read a list just recently of some of the most inspirational and awe-inspiring places to visit in the world. It was an impressive list; the Western Wall, Taj Mahal, […]

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Notes from the Spiritual Underground

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by Walt Clark, Office Assistant There has become a new running joke in my life. Right now, my weekdays consist of work at a mikveh, a place with Hebrew on the walls and Jews in pools, and then driving to teach swim lessons at the JCC, a place with Hebrew on the walls and Jews […]

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What Does Bill Cosby Have To Do With Our Mikveh?

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by Jody Comins, Development and Events Coordinator In December, I participated in a webinar through Network for Good about how to maximize Mayyim Hayyim’s efforts for our year-end appeal. You’re familiar with Year End appeals, right? Every non-profit is sending their best, most heart warming, feel-good story and asking you to open your checkbook one […]

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Wash My Scars

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by Rabbi Emily Aviva Kapor to my friends, guides, and colleagues of the Mayyim Ḥayyim Community Mikveh of Newton, Massachusetts uncertain feet descend stone steps downward into the water, down into the water they tell me is warm and healing. let every part of my body touch the water; let there be no barrier between […]

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Snow

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by Walt Clark, Office Assistant Snow and I have a turbulent relationship. A world with snow is familiar, but fundamentally changed. If you say that you are going to attach yourself to a wood board and slide down a mountain, it appears suicidal, but with snow, it becomes something fun to do. Attaching razor sharp […]

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Knock, Knock … It’s Me. Schnorrer.

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by Anita Diamant The Yiddish word schnorrer has more than one meaning. It can be used to describe a habitual moocher, someone who never picks up the check, or a low-level jerk, a no-goodnik. However, the first definition in most dictionaries is “beggar.” There are all kinds of schnorrers: panhandlers on the street, the kid who knocks […]

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Remembering the Little Things

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By Rachel CaraDonna, Mayyim Hayyim Development Intern When I started interning at Mayyim Hayyim, I asked myself a couple inevitable questions: “Will I ever immerse? If so, when? For what purpose?”. It didn’t take me long to conclude that I couldn’t possibly imagine a life transition that meant enough to me. Thoughts of “I’m too young!”, “Nothing’s actually […]

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