Deb Gaffin (she/her) Chief Executive Officer | debg@mayyimhayyim.org Deb joined Mayyim Hayyim as Chief Executive Officer in January 2026, following nine months as Interim CEO. With a background in education technology and strategic planning, she has more than 20 years of experience leading teams, cultivating partnerships, and delivering innovative learning initiatives for museums, publishers and […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving Jewish rituals and religious observance rely on community, and people are the backbone of communities. That’s what I walked away with after seeing the film, The Women’s Balcony. The film is about people from a small Sephardi congregation in Jerusalem, whose lives are disrupted when the upstairs women’s […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Leora Abelson Ordination weekend began at the mikveh. This felt right for our class, which had marked the beginning of each year of rabbinical school with a ritual at Crystal Lake. We know that the mere presence of water can be grounding and heart-opening. We gathered early Friday morning. Our group of eleven […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh & Education Director It’s that time of year when we’re surrounded by lists – top ten best movies of the year, books, songs, the like. Here at Mayyim Hayyim, we judge ourselves by our impact on our guests. Did they have a positive experience? Were they made to feel welcome? Did […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving Some people think that life is linear, always moving forward in one direction. But I’d like to disagree. In this past year, life hasn’t felt linear at all. Almost a full year ago, I wrote my first blog post as an intern for Mayyim Hayyim. I wrote about […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh & Education Director Anita Diamant says of our mikveh guides, “You are the face of Mayyim Hayyim.” It’s true. A mikveh guide literally opens the door and welcomes each guest, supporting their visit in whatever way is needed, wanted, imagined, spoken of or hinted at. This winter we have welcomed and are training […]
Continue Readingby Ari Lev Fornari One of my favorite facts about a mikveh is that the water cannot mekabel tumah, it cannot become ritually impure. Which is to say, it can’t be tainted or contaminated. Not even by a pig, the living embodiment of ritual impurity. When I first learned this concept, I remember releasing a sigh […]
Continue Readingby Benjamin Maron, Mikveh Guide In many ways, my work has been about the people at the fringes of our communities, those outside looking in. I’ve worked in social services, ran youth outreach groups, and started interfaith dialogue groups between Muslim and Jewish students on a too volatile campus. I spend my days at InterfaithFamily, […]
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Mark the new year with an immersion.
