by Jordan Braunig, Hebrew College intern Who knows how long I’d been sitting at my desk. Hours? Days? Months? It was time to write my blog post for Mayyim Hayyim, but what to write! I racked my brain, and still, nothing; literally, nothing. Sure, I’ve had the occasional case of writer’s block, but this was […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein Today is (and yesterday was, too) Rosh Chodesh Adar – the first days of the month of Adar. Adar: the month on the Hebrew calendar that brings us Purim, which I take very, very seriously. When Adar comes we are meant to increase our joy – a command for happiness! In case […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director With apologies for plagiarizing from “Rent”, I ask everyone to think about how one measures a year. “In daylight? In sunsets? In midnights? In cups of coffee?” This particular year feels a bit different, however, as I can measure it in many different ways. As my first 365 […]
Continue Readingby Sarah Gurvis, Administrative Assistant Every year, as I’m sure most people do, I look forward to January 1st. There seems to be something magical about the beginning of a new year that we all seem to believe in. It’s the reason that New Year’s Eve is such a big deal with parties, and champagne, […]
Continue Readingby Julia Becker Collins, Director of Community Engagement When my husband and I were in our Introduction to Judaism class at Temple Beth Shalom, we had a class discussion about what is often called the “December Dilemma.” This is the coined phrase that surrounds the ‘conflict’ that appears to many interfaith families and couples at […]
Continue ReadingBy Lisa Berman, Mayyim Hayyim Education Center Director Can you recreate ritual? Of course we here at Mayyim Hayyim believe that you can reimagine it, breathe new life into it, re-envision it, and interpret it in new, contemporary and meaningful ways. We do it every day with the ritual of mikveh. But could a family recreate Chanukah? […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein We made it. October 10; a.k.a. the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishrei; a.k.a. the first day in three-and-a-half weeks we are no longer in the midst of “the holidays.” Phew. In one week we begin the month of Cheshvan, a.k.a. “Mar Cheshvan,” or the bitter month of Cheshvan; bitter because it […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Every summer at camp there would be some new rule or some change that would seem to have dramatic and life-altering consequences. A schedule change (but we always swim after sports!), a favorite food item discontinued (but we always have purple bug juice at lunch!), a curfew made […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein Today is one of my favorite days of the year at Mayyim Hayyim: the day we put the honey sticks next to our front door in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah. Usually I hold off – waiting until the world’s birthday arrives to reunite my apple with its honey. But today… let’s just […]
Continue ReadingBy Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director When I was growing up in Jackon, Mississippi (yes, there are Jews in Mississippi—but not many), the only way to be involved in the Jewish community was to go to services and religious school. So, my family went to services most Friday nights. As a petulant teenager, you […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi David Lerner I was pretty nervous – I had never been “in” a mikveh – not to mention, it was the night before my wedding! As my father and I drove up to the mikveh that Saturday night, I prepared by thinking about my life – what I was happy about, what I […]
Continue Readingby Jamie Bornstein Each night Carrie and I settle into our familiar routine. Dinner, kid bedtime, clean up dinner, adult parallel play (each of us sitting on the couch with our laptops catching up on work), Seinfeld at 11 pm, and sleep. Ours is a story familiar to many full-time working couples (with the exception […]
Continue ReadingSearch
