Happy Birthday, Tree

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by Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Judaism is replete with tree-human stories and metaphors. Something about the way the branches reach out to the heavens and how those tenacious roots grab hold of the earth has captivated our imaginations. Not incidentally, we have thrived through the sustenance that trees provide us; their shade, fruit, and oxygen have been […]

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Bounty and Despair: Hoshiah na

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by Shira M. Cohen-Goldberg This has been a hard year. At this time last year my heart was a well of despair. Some of you may have read about how I emerged from having a miscarriage at 12 weeks gestation last year on this blog. Writing that post was extremely healing for me. Many of you reached […]

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A Great Miracle Happens in Our Home

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by Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Guide When I was growing up, each of us lit our own menorah.  There were five of us, so you can imagine how beautiful our table was with all of those candles.  At some point in my young Jewish life, we started lighting some of our channukiyot by starting with […]

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November Transitions

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by Sherri Goldman, Administrative and Finance Director November can be a tough month. The month begins with a transition to longer nights and shorter amounts of daylight. Saying goodbye to the sun can leave many people feeling depressed and sad. There can be a tendency to hibernate, causing us to sleep and eat more. Very tough […]

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Harvesting the Power of Mikveh

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by Naomi Malka There is so much sechel, or wisdom, in the Jewish calendar. I love that our year ends with the conclusion of summer and the entry of fall.  We’ve celebrated, davenned, and fasted, but this week we’re taking the party outdoors.  Sukkot recalls the harvest season in ancient Israel, when the land was so […]

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The Architecture of Hope

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by Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Hope is the language of the desolate and the down-and-out. In the face of tragedy and upheaval, when we are at the bottom, we look up for something to change. It’s part of our very human nature to survive. In the midst of self-denial and the prayer that my repentance […]

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Roller Coasters and Merry-Go-Rounds

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by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director There’s a great scene from one of my very favorite movies of all time, Parenthood, with Steve Martin. At one point, seemingly out of context, the grandmother says to Steve, “You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster. Up, down, up, down. Oh, what […]

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Immersing at Ice House Pond

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by Rabbi Sarah Tasman For the last number of years, preparing for the High Holidays has been full on. As most other Jewish professionals and clergy will tell you, preparing for the High Holidays is a whirlwind that includes creating service outlines, tutoring volunteer Torah readers, sermon writing, rehearsing with lay song leaders and so on. […]

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Just a Blessed, Holy, Magical, Energizing Experience

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by Carrie Bornstein One hundred eighty-one people have already scheduled an immersion at Mayyim Hayyim for the month of September. By the time the month is over, we’ll be pushing well into the two hundreds. Our guests are coming for all different reasons, of course, but more than anything now we’re seeing women, men, and […]

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Five Questions for New Year’s Reflection

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by Sherri Goldman The High Holidays, or Jewish New Year, is a time for reflection.  Every New Year gives us a moment to look back over the past year to see what was successful and what in our lives can use some improvement. It’s a time of year to give ourselves the opportunity to grow […]

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Meditations of My Heart For Rosh Hashanah

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by Ivy Helman Rosh Hashanah represents a return to God.  Immersing in a mikveh renews my sense of purpose and grants me a sense of wholeness I just haven’t found elsewhere.  Yet, it’s also so much more than this. Two thoughts come to mind that truly capture why I go to the mikveh before the […]

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A Call and a Kavannah for Pesach

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by Rabbi Sue Fendrick If you leave behind no other aspect of mitzrayim – if you move out of the narrow places in no other way -join me in this one: Do not put off things because of your fear of how it will go – fear that the conversation won’t go the way you […]

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