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 release our pains, to emerge […]
Continue Readingby Kelly Banker My monthly immersions have been interrupted, and their absence is showing up everywhere I turn. Each immersion felt like a suspension of time; a breath of new life into each month. This summer, though, I was living in western Massachusetts and only recently returned, and have not had the time to immerse […]
Continue Readingby Nate Vaughan Last year, around this time, I immersed at Mayyim Hayyim for the first time, in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. Ever since I first heard about Mayyim Hayyim, I’ve listened to many people speak about their immersion experiences. In part, those stories led me to immerse. But this isn’t a story about the incredibly meaningful […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving Let me tell you a little secret of mine. I actually hate getting in the water. I’m not a fan of summer, in part because I’d rather be cold than hot, but also because I hate swimming. I can’t remember if I liked it as a kid or […]
Continue Readingby Yasmine Moideen “A donde?” “Por la calle y la Calle trece.” My friends and I entered the dented, sky-blue, 1954 Bel Aire landing on creaky seats, shutting the doors harder than we should have. We were in Havana, Cuba on a trip with our synagogue. It was nearing Shabbat, around 6:30 pm. That day, […]
Continue Readingby Kelly Banker, Intern I have always been captivated by water. It holds a certain mystical quality, a kind of knowing. Growing up, my family spent our summers living in a cottage on a lake in New Hampshire, so water has been a staple of my life from an early age. Lakes, streams, rivers, waterfalls and […]
Continue Readingby Shira Cohen-Goldberg “Abba, is Santa Claus real?” says my four-year-old from the back of the car. This is most certainly my child. I used to put cookies and milk out on the counter for Santa to take when he came to our house on Christmas Eve. In the morning, the cookies and milk were always […]
Continue ReadingBy Jane Matlaw, former Board Member When my children were young, they got something small each night of Hanukkah. Growing up, my parents had demonstrated the importance of giving back and I wanted to pass this value onto my children, as well. I wanted not just to talk about, but actually engage in philanthropy. We […]
Continue Readingby Kelly Banker, Mayyim Hayyim Intern As we move into the Hebrew month of Kislev, the weather gets colder and the light becomes increasingly scarce. I find myself continually reminded of what the darkness can do, the stillness it can bring. Kislev, a month that literally means “in the pocket of the heart,” is a time […]
Continue ReadingBy Shira M. Cohen-Goldberg I grew up listening to Marlo Thomas’s “Free to be You and Me,” a compilation of songs and stories geared towards children that immerses the listener in the progressive values of the early 70’s: gender equity, individuality, tolerance, and comfort with one’s identity. In the world of “Free to Be,” Atalanta […]
Continue ReadingWelcome to Our October Blog Series, From Rachel Hillman, Guest Editor October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a month where the media highlights breast cancer, research for treatment and, one day, a cure. During October, many women and men share their stories about how breast cancer impacted them or their family. Last year, after being diagnosed with breast cancer […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Less than forty-eight hours before Kol Nidre, I hurt my knee at a sports practice and it threw my whole Yom Kippur out of whack. When I woke Monday morning, the pain was worse, and I had trouble walking. Confused, tired, and now worried about the seriousness of my […]
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