by Lisa Berman, Education Center Director It’s a good day when you create a program described as “absolutely, amazingly, awesomely phenomenal.” Frankly, it’s even better when a 12 year old says, “I thought that the girls would all have been forced to come by their moms, but we were all genuinely interested – and it […]
Continue Readingby Gaby Zwiebach My family roots stem both from Peru and from Mexico. The cultures of these two countries have always had a strong influence in my life and in the life of my two older sisters, and eventually in the lives of our respective children. The three of us were born in Mexico to […]
Continue ReadingBy Judi and Maya Goldberg My five-year old daughter, Maya, and I met “Mikveh Lisa” (Lisa Berman, Mayyim Hayyim Education Center Director) at Temple Shalom. We participated in our first immersion at Mayyim Hayyim about six months ago. Maya and I both love going to the mikveh, but for very different reasons. I love going […]
Continue ReadingBy Emma Green, Jewish Educator at Boston Area Jewish Education Program When I was a child, I spent a lot of time hanging out at my local synagogue. I grew very comfortable with most of the building while waiting for my brothers to be done with Bar Mitzvah meetings or Hebrew School, youth group events, […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Lisa Berman Oh to be a 12 year old girl these days. No, not because of all the Justin Bieber look-alikes in their classes, though surely that doesn’t hurt. And yes, being a 5th, 6th, or 7th grade girl is still rife with challenges – academic, social, sports, bullying, peer pressure, etc. Add […]
Continue ReadingWhen I had heard that Mayyim Hayyim offered mikveh experiences for elementary schoolers and b’nei/ b’not mitzvah, I must admit I was somewhat surprised, given the traditional associations of mikveh with sexuality. But a recent experience made me change my mind, and even lower the recommended age! I recently had the honor of escorting a […]
Continue ReadingInching our way down Commonwealth Ave, all I could think was, “We’re going to be late.” As I pulled into the parking lot just minutes before our scheduled arrival at 2:00 pm, my cell phone rang. One of the other vans had taken a different Washington Street and was still 15 – 20 minutes away. […]
Continue ReadingIn a few weeks, tens of thousands of Jewish kids in North America will pack their bags, say goodbye to their families, and enter the alternate universe of Summer Camp. Campers absorb a great deal of their Jewish education in that universe, a place where many Jewish values take root. I believe that summer camps […]
Continue ReadingImagine it. Ten couples sitting around a table, munching on Terra Chips, hummus and carrots, mixed nuts and Peanut M&M’s; some engaged to be married, some already married, in their late 20’s and older, gay and straight, Jewish-Jewish and interfaith, and all interested in raising Jewish children. They want to start their marriages on the […]
Continue ReadingMichelle shared the following with those of us who attended “Love, Loss and What I Didn’t Wear: A Red Tent Event” on December 7, 2010. For most of my life, the ritual of immersion in a mikveh felt irrelevant to me in my personal practice of Judaism. That all changed when I was confronted by […]
Continue ReadingDr. Kerry Olitzky, Executive Director of the Jewish Outreach Institute, shares his thoughts on conversion, intermarriage, and our film, Welcoming Waters: Mikveh Baby. For those who choose it, conversion is a liminal experience. While it might sound cliché or hackneyed, it can be a life-changing event. And that is the way it is supposed to […]
Continue ReadingGuest Poster Julie Wiener’s In the Mix blog appears on The Jewish Week website. Her monthly columns about intermarried life are published in the newspaper’s print edition and online. One of the perks of being an intermarried Jewish mom, as opposed to being an intermarried Jewish dad, is that your children are universally recognized as […]
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