By Sivan Piatigorsky-Roth, Mayyim Hayyim Rabbinic Intern, Hebrew College 2026 – 2027

I started my internship at Mayyim Hayyim having already been volunteering as a mikveh guide at Mayyim Hayyim for many years. The experience of being an intern here has really deepened my appreciation for all of the work that Mayyim Hayyim does. As I end my internship at Mayyim Hayyim and move into my last year of rabbinical school, I am reflecting on the ways in which being a mikveh guide has shaped my experience of accompanying people in their moments of encountering Divinity, whether those moments are difficult or joyous or (as is often the case) a mixture of all sorts of feelings. I have been so privileged to guide for conversions, birthdays, celebrations, healing, loss, and so many other moments (big and small) that people have chosen to mark with immersion. I have learned so much about what supportive presence looks like for Jews across the many spectrums of Judaism.

Some of the most meaningful immersions have been ones in which my role was mostly to make space for other supports and resources in the immersees lives. I’ve really gotten a chance to see and experience just how much of spiritual care work involves pointing people back towards the spiritual care that already supports them and has carried them to this moment. I love being there with people and with their families, friends, and other accompaniments, some of whom might be showing up with no knowledge of what a mikveh is or could be. I have found moments of profound connection and presence with some of the other guests while an immerse is in a prep room, and have been deeply moved by seeing the ways people show up to the mikveh carrying their outside worlds with them, both solo and when they come with others.

Another incredibly meaningful part of my internship has been teaching mikveh education. Prior to rabbinical school, I had taught adult learners and preschool learners, but teaching middle school and high school students felt outside of my comfort zone. To my surprise, I have learned that these might in fact be my favourite students to teach—I have loved engaging with the real enthusiasm and curiosity that students have brought to our education sessions, and have particularly loved how eager the younger students have been to engage in the complex questions of specific immersion cases, always excited to know “what would happen if…?” The excitement of learning something new, particularly when it makes a connection to Jewish tradition is a primary way that I encounter God in my own life. It is incredibly moving to feel like I can help facilitate that moment for people in their learning as well as in their immersions.

I have been so privileged to learn more about how Mayyim Hayyim operates, to be involved with more behind-the-scenes planning of programs, to continue accompanying people on sacred moments of transition, to be an educator, to serve on beit dins, and to be a spiritual support and source of information and comfort for immersees and their loved ones. Most of all, I feel so grateful to be learning from Mayyim Hayyim’s model of welcoming, openness, and trust. I hope that I can carry into my rabbinate the immense respect that I see here for people’s wishes, the trust in their religious and spiritual decision-making, and the spirit of unconditional welcoming and support.