The Strangest of Places

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by Jim Billings, Mikveh Guide Do you ever wonder where life might be taking you? Life’s journeys are usually full of ups and downs, twists and turns and paths unexpected, and sometimes we end up in the strangest of places. Approximately 30 years ago I converted to Judaism. I said the Shema (a prayer that […]

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A Pregnant Pause

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by Elisha Gechter I’ve fallen prey to a Facebook trend. Each month I stick a big number to my daughter’s onesie and snap a picture to post online. This month number nine will come out of the package, which has me recalling the milestone we marked in my 9th month of pregnancy at Mayyim Hayyim. As […]

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Coming Indoors

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by 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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Men, Men, Men, Men…

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by Jody Comins, Development and Events Coodinator So here’s a little secret – for the past few months I’ve been one of the guys. Really! In my role as the Development and Events Coordinator, I’ve been planning a Spring Men’s event.  Men, Mikveh and Malt is coming up on April 25th at the Waterworks Museum […]

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My Mikveh Journey

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by Michael Franck One Jewish life.  Two beautiful Jewish children. That is what mikveh has given me.  I have been reflecting on this lately because of Mayyim Hayyim’s upcoming spring benefit event, Men, Mikveh, and Malt, which I am helping to plan.  Thinking about the event, and about what Mayyim Hayyim means, has made me […]

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In Gratitude…

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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” […]

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Mikveh Thoughts

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Becoming 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 […]

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My First Witnessed Immersion

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by Sidney Davis, Mikveh Guide My first witnessed immersion experience at Mayyim Hayyim was a remarkably extraordinary event. Personally, it was an affirmation of my role as a mikveh guide. I volunteered to become a mikveh guide because I wanted to take a more active role within my Jewish community that reflected not only my […]

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The Fluidity of Mikveh

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by Jordan Braunig, Hebrew College Intern In an education class that I was taking a couple of years ago at Hebrew College’s Rabbinical School, an instructor assigned us the seemingly benign task of watching a few child-development videos on YouTube.  I’m as busy as the next guy and appreciated having an assignment that I could […]

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Making the Mikveh Mine

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by Jim Ball, Mikveh Guide, Cohort 6a I’ve been a mikveh guide for about a year. Because I work from my house and can make my own hours, I’ve been called on often for the many men who have used Mayyim Hayyim for a variety of reasons: upcoming weddings, conversions, bar mitzvahs, and marking special […]

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Am I Jewish?

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by Stephan Lewy I was born in Berlin, Germany, and had a Protestant mother and a Jewish father. My parents agreed that a boy would be raised Jewish and a girl, Protestant. My birth was in a Jewish hospital, which still exists today. If both of my parents had been Jewish, my life would not […]

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