September 2023 / Elul 5783 Dear friend, As we embrace the season of reflection and renewal, I’m thinking about my own experience with Jewish ritual, like mikveh. Mikveh has been there to help me grow and change. It is here for so many of you at times of celebration, healing, and transition. I became Mayyim Hayyim’s […]
Continue ReadingBy Leann Shamash So much of what is written in Parshat Metzora, this week’s Torah portion, concerning blood and emissions still lives on to this day. Who would think that a parsha which details bodily emissions would spur a tradition of mikveh, with water a liquid vehicle to heal and transform? Mayyim Hayyim has taken […]
Continue Readingby Julie Sullivan, Administrative Director As someone who did not grow up celebrating the High Holy Days, I find myself seeing them perhaps through a different lens than those for whom these days have been a part of their lives since childhood. Celebrating these holidays has only been a part of my life for the […]
Continue ReadingBy Rachel Eisen, Director of Development Parshat Shemini begins with fire and brimstone, as the Mishkan (Tabernacle) is finally opened for its use in worshipping God in the desert. The opening, however, is marred by tragedy when Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu, offer a “strange” sacrifice and are punished by an internally-consuming fire as […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director My favorite holiday starts in just a few days. Purim, our most fun, upbeat, and irreverent holiday, is one that I take very seriously. I love creating themed homemade costumes for my family, coordinating the mishloach manot food gifts with our costumes and then eating all the goodies that come […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Development It’s always an exciting day when a new exhibit goes up in the Gallery @ Mayyim Hayyim. Since Mayyim Hayyim opened, our commitment to hiddur mitzvah, beautifying ritual life, has extended beyond the spa-like architecture and design of our mikveh pools and building. The principle of hiddur mitzvah dates […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted October 10, 2016 by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director The wind swirls today. Is it here to strip us of our unwanted bits, to smooth our testy edges, to burnish the gems in our souls? It bends the trees, branches, and bowed heads. Can it bend us to our own wills, to […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Each year, as Rosh Hashanah approaches I hear a lot of people say, “I don’t feel ready.” Or, “The chaggim (holidays) just came out of nowhere. Are they early this year?” I include myself in this Greek chorus. Amidst high holiday planning, schools start, traffic gets 90% worse, and […]
Continue ReadingBy Emilia Diamant Mayyim Hayyim is a vital resource for those who, like me, need time and space for the radical act of self-care. That is why, in this season of renewal, I’m asking you to join me in supporting Mayyim Hayyim’s commitment to healing. As together we endeavor to work toward justice, it is easy […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted on August 23, 2017 By Rachel Tali Kaplan water and music are healing to immerse and be immersed surrounded enveloped both mediums allow me to loose myself release into the vastness of the whole only to find myself again and again in the finite in the water’s refreshing coolness in a chord that […]
Continue ReadingAs we prepare for the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, we wanted to re-share this post reflecting on the relationship between Mount Sinai, marriage, and mikveh. Join us May 19 at 8:00PM at the Community Tikkun Leil Shavuot for dramaturgy and discussion with Associate Director of Education, Leeza Negelev. Originally posted May 25, 2012 by Rabbi David […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Last August, my family and I broke our Aunt Ria out of the nursing home to celebrate her 90th birthday. We took her to a nearby park, where we set out a feast of Russian food and regaled her with songs and stories. When it came time to […]
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