By Yael Marans, Mayyim Hayyim Rabbinic Intern, Hebrew College 2026 – 2027
Sometimes, as a rabbinical student, I talk with my friends about the skills we feel we need, the skills we want to use now and that we believe will serve us as we become rabbis. Often, our conversations turn to an elusive, crucial skill, the ability to pastorally handle logistics. As we prepare to guide people through lifecycle events, as we write lesson plans and outline our High Holiday services, sometimes we move to discussing logistical details. We share the wisdom that so many of us have heard from mentors over the years — that calmly, competently approaching the details, the “little things,” can go a long way in making space for emotion and meaning-making. Having a steady voice when discussing logistics can help people feel safe. It can show people that you will walk with them carefully through the uncertainty, one step at a time.
When I picture practicing this kind of spiritual care in the abstract, I feel terrified, stunned by the responsibility to meet practical challenges with a calm attitude, to radiate steadiness when there may be real emotional and interpersonal stakes at play in an event or interaction. But this year, as a rabbinic intern at Mayyim Hayyim, I got to practice pastorally handling logistics on a regular basis.
It didn’t feel quite as terrifying to navigate this practice when there was a clear task to be done. I followed the steps in which I was trained, and sometimes, I followed my intuition. First and foremost, I would greet immersees as they entered Mayyim Hayyim. Then, I would offer them a beverage and a tour. When it came time to explain the mechanics of our mikveh, I tried to calmly, carefully instruct them that when they got in the water, they would turn the bor handle to let in the rain water. I would show them the prep rooms and talk them through the steps of physically and spiritually preparing for immersion. Like the mikveh guides who trained me taught me to do, I tried to make the instructions feel gentle, clear and supportive.
Sometimes I made mistakes. I set the wrong tone when someone walked into Mayyim Hayyim, at times sounding too chipper, and at times, too somber. Sometimes I forgot to explain certain details about prepping for immersion, and I worried that I was not providing the best care and support I could for each immersee. I learned to push myself to be more attentive in the moment. But all the while, I knew that I was getting to practice the daunting skill of making the details part of the care I was offering. I have accompanied people through all the diverse emotional moments they may experience at the mikveh, and I have tried each time to show support through my attention to the details.
Wherever my rabbinic journey takes me, I know that I will have been made wiser and steadier by my time at Mayyim Hayyim. Much of that is thanks to the people with whom I got to work this year. The Mayyim Hayyim staff and mikveh guides are masters of gentle, yet confident care, and I am honored that I got to work alongside them.
There is more that I learned at Mayyim Hayyim, of course. It is hard to put to words all that I witnessed as I taught groups of different ages about mikveh, as I supported conversion candidates and mikveh guides in training. There is also so much more to appreciate about Mayyim Hayyim that goes beyond the framing of me and my experience as an intern. That said, as I transition out of my role as an intern at Mayyim Hayyim, I feel keenly aware of how much more I have to learn. I hope to learn more about other mikvaot in other parts of the world. I hope to one day support a conversion candidate as a rabbi. I hope to keep expanding my ability to be sincere, direct and calm as I attend to the details of a ritual experience.
My reflection on my learning this year feels like a window into the depth and variety of experiences that hover around Mayyim Hayyim. My own experience feels so rich and yet so limited, so I can only imagine the expansive ways Mayyim Hayyim touches other people’s lives, everyday, sometimes in ways that feel big, and sometimes in ways that feel quiet, steady and full of care.
Yael Marans is teaching a three-session class called Mikveh Rituals, Repentance, and Reflection through the Hebrew College Tamid starting August fourth.