Description

In our opening keynote of Flowing Together, acclaimed author and thought leader Anita Diamant will join Sarit Wishnevski, Executive Director of Kavod v’Nichum, to explore the deep connections between mikveh and end-of-life rituals. Through personal stories and historical insight, Anita will reflect on how both practices — rooted in water, transformation, and communal care — speak to issues of justice, access, and evolving Jewish identity. This keynote will illuminate the power of reclaiming and reimagining tradition, challenging us to consider how these sacred rituals shape our spiritual lives today and into the future.

Keynote Speaker

Anita Diamant is the author of 13 books: five novels, including the New York Times bestseller, The Red Tent.

She has written six non-fiction guides to contemporary Jewish life, including The Jewish Wedding Now, Living a Jewish Life, and Saying Kaddish.

Anita is the founding president of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center: a 21st century reinvention of the ancient tradition of immersion for all Jews and those becoming Jewish.

Description

This session will explore gender inclusivity as a Jewish value and how to put that value into action in the specific context of mikveh and tahara. We will share examples from the Community Hevra Kadisha of Greater Boston and Mayyim Hayyim to learn concrete tools for moving towards a future of Jewish embodied practices that meets the needs of every Jew. A specific emphasis will be placed on the whys and hows of making a Hevra Kadisha and mikveh accessible to transgender, gender expansive, and genderqueer individuals.

Educators

Soreh Ruffman
(she/her/s) Director of Rising Tide, Mayyim Hayyim

Soreh comes to Mayyim Hayyim with over 10 years of experience as an educator and community organizer, with a background in sustainable Jewish farming, trauma and disability informed special education, and transformative justice. Mikveh has been instrumental in marking several critical life transitions in Soreh’s life. She sees inextricable connection between tahara and mikveh and has been a volunteer at the Community Hevra Kadisha of Greater Boston and in her current community in Bloomington, IN.

Eli Sobel
(they/he) Greater Boston Education & Training Manager

Eli [they/he] brings their love of words and storytelling to their work as an educator to people of all ages. He has taught at numerous institutions on the intersection of LGBTQ+ identity and culture with Jewish identity and practice. Eli lives outside Boston and enjoys serving as the Education & Training Team’s regional representative in greater New England.

Rivka Nechemya Thrope
(any/all) volunteer with the Community Hevra Kadisha of Greater Boston and Rabbinical School Student at Hebrew College

Rivka Nechemya Thrope (any/all) is a second-year rabbinical student at Hebrew College and joined the Community Hevra Kadisha of Greater Boston at the start of 2024. Prior to starting rabbinical school, he received a BA in Comparative Religion at Harvard College, where his final paper was on the topics of gender and tahara. Rivka Nechemya enjoys dancing, cooking, hiking, knitting, and spending time with Chickpea the calico cat.

Educator

Aki Yonekawa
(she/her) is a Jewish educator and lover of adventures, Jewish camp, nature, and French fries. She has worked in a variety of educational settings including schools (early childhood through high school,) camps, museums, and synagogues. She is a freelance educator, managing special programs, tutoring bmitzvah students, and working with young adults in leadership programs. She spends her summers as a faculty member at Brandeis Camp Institute, an immersive summer program for Jews in their 20s in Southern California. She lives in an attic in Cambridge, a long way from Los Angeles where she grew up.