by Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Last week marked the end of my first year as a full-time employee at Mayyim Hayyim. Many have heard me joke, “If you harass people enough, they’ll hire you,” but the truth is, I am incredibly lucky to be able to pass under the sign reading “boachem l’shalom” […]
Continue ReadingBecoming a Mikveh Guide is a thoughtful and intentional process. Seth Stadfeld is a member of Cohort 8, our newest and first-ever men’s only training, and offers his thoughtful and intentional reflections about immersing in the mikveh by Seth Stadfeld, Mikveh Guide Trainee I have been wrestling with how to understand all I am learning […]
Continue Readingby Diane Black, Rebecca Friedman, and Jessica Friedman A few weeks ago, Diane Black, one of our board members and a Mikveh Guide, brought her daughter Rebecca and her granddaughter Jessica to Mayyim Hayyim to celebrate Jessica becoming a Bat Mitzvah. Diane guided Jessica, and Rebecca witnessed. A note from the editor: Diane, Rebecca, and Jessica […]
Continue Readingby Jody Comins, Development and Events Coordinator “Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin Since I began working at Mayyim Hayyim last […]
Continue Readingby Jordan Braunig, Hebrew College intern Who knows how long I’d been sitting at my desk. Hours? Days? Months? It was time to write my blog post for Mayyim Hayyim, but what to write! I racked my brain, and still, nothing; literally, nothing. Sure, I’ve had the occasional case of writer’s block, but this was […]
Continue Readingby Jody Comins, Development and Events Coordinator One of the things that I love about working at Mayyim Hayyim is attending meetings. I’ve been working in the Jewish community for 23 years and every agency runs meetings differently. It’s very common at Jewish Board Meetings to start with a D’var Torah (words of Torah) and […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Pamela Jay Gottfried I was delighted when Rabbi Joe Brodie, the Dean of Student Life and father figure to many of us at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), agreed to officiate at my wedding. I was also anxious. Like my future spouse, Joe was fairly traditional about ritual observance, and I was embarrassed […]
Continue Readingby Debra Askanase Sometimes, even newborn babies need a fresh start. That’s what I thought when I finally brought my eldest daughter home from Children’s Hospital, three and a half weeks after her birth. She had a rough beginning, going straight from Newton-Wellesley to Children’s Hospital. It was touch-and-go for the first few days, and after […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Education Center Director Makom kadosh. Holy space. It is what we try to create here at Mayyim Hayyim. We refer to the process as “intentional design” – the highly focused, carefully thought out selection of everything physical at Mayyim Hayyim. In our “Principles of Common Purpose,” we describe our principle of hiddur mitzvah […]
Continue Readingby Sherri Goldman, Administrative and Finance Director We never spoke about mikveh in my family. I never really thought about this until I started working at Mayyim Hayyim. At Mayyim Hayyim, mothers and daughters come to immerse for many smachot (happy occasions). Families gather to celebrate conversions and wedding immersions. Mothers pass along to […]
Continue ReadingFrom time to time, Mayyim Hayyim staff read through our guest book. It’s quite fulfilling to read about people’s immersion experience(s) in their words. Sometimes people come to mark the ending of an illness or medical treatment or relationship, but their words often sound hopeful for a new beginning. Here are a few entries… This […]
Continue Readingby Sue Horowitz This November, I had the honor of debuting a song at Mayyim Hayyim‘s Tapestry: Choosing a Jewish Life event. The song, “Here I Am” was written for the ritual of conversion to Judaism. I am a singer-songwriter, frequently reinterpreting texts, psalms, prayers and Jewish ethics. I am lucky to have a writing […]
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