Got It!

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Inching 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. […]

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The Mikveh Has Left the Building

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In 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 […]

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Beyond the Huppah

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Imagine 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 […]

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Michelle’s Mikveh Story

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Michelle 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 […]

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Guest Post: Conversion and the Intermarried

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Dr. 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 […]

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Guest Post: Welcoming the Unaffiliated

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Guest 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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Guest Post: An Honest, Affirming Look at Converting Infants

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Ed Case, CEO of Interfaithfamily.com, shares his thoughts on our film, conversion and creating Jewish families. You can read more of what Ed has to say on Interfaithfamily.com’s blog. Welcoming Waters: Mikveh for Babies is an incredibly affirming video on many levels. First, Jennifer Grossman, the mother of Clara, the infant being converted, is someone we should […]

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Letting Go of Letting Go

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Take a deep breath, exhale, and immerse fully under the water for one instant with nothing else getting in the way, right? Wrong. Well, not completely wrong.  Most of the time that is indeed the idea. But what about someone who can’t?  What if a person is not physically able to immerse independently?  Does that mean he can’t […]

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Entering the Covenant

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What a beautiful ceremony and rite of passage captured on video! You can feel the sense of community as baby Clara formally enters the covenant of the Jewish people. And what a moment when mom Jennifer lets go of her baby for the immersion. What could potentially be a hard thing for any parent is […]

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Welcoming Waters: Mikveh for Babies

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Welcome to the Jewish future, which is very, very cute. Welcome to the premiere of Mayyim Hayyim’s first documentary film, funded by CJP and Natan and produced by Jennifer Kaplan. In “Welcoming Waters: Mikveh for Babies,” you will meet Clara Grossman, ten weeks old, who gurgles and smiles as her mother carries her into the […]

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