Life Transitions, Potpourri

Held by God

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by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director It was a freezing, snowy day at Mayyim Hayyim, and we were struggling with frozen pipes in bathrooms and laundry rooms. We still had one working preparation room and one warm mikveh, so we were happy to be able to continue to welcome guests. That morning, a guest […]

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Art Gallery and Education Center, Potpourri

7 Kavanot: A Deep Dive

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by Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Mayyim Hayyim’s Seven Kavanot for Mikveh Preparation lists seven practical steps for the removal of chatzizot (barriers) that might come between the water and me. This document also offers seven intentions (kavanot) that focus my mind on removing these barriers with loving attention and respect for my body. Having used the […]

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Art Gallery and Education Center, Jewish Community

The Tide has Shifted

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by Anita Diamant, Founding President I have to tell you a story. At the recent Reform Movement Biennial, more than 50 participants from all over the world took a field trip to Mayyim Hayyim. The response was — rapturous. Mikveh and Education Director, Lisa Berman, asked those 50 URJ guests how many had never been […]

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Potpourri

The Mikveh is Calling… Again

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by Leah Robbins, Administrative and Marketing Assitant January 1st… It’s coming. The new year brings with it a sense of infinite possibility, a childlike sense of hope, a renewed faithfulness in our capacity to fundamentally transform ourselves and the world around us. Of course, we Jews already had the opportunity to take stock of ourselves […]

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National Network

Networking for a Better Jewish Future

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by Amber Caulkins, Director of Rising Tide Mikveh Network A few weeks ago I traveled to Baltimore with two of my Mayyim Hayyim colleagues to attend the Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network gathering. The trip gave us the opportunity to connect with Jewish leaders who are working to create “communities of meaning,” defined by Kenissa […]

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Men, Shabbat and Holidays

The Gift of Immersion

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by Rabbi Jeremy Sher This Hanukkah season, as we get ready to commemorate the rededication of the Temple, I’m thinking back to a very special time of personal rededication: my immersion at Mayyim Hayyim, one of the formative experiences of my life. I had been to Mayyim Hayyim several times to witness immersions, but it […]

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Accessibility and Inclusion, LGBTQ+

Why Queer Mikveh?

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by Rebekah Erev In 2000, a group of radical queers in Olympia, Washington welcomed me into a chavurah (group of friends) of artists, musicians, and organizers. We had all experienced feeling excluded, living on the fringes, and shared a desire to welcome and acknowledge the beauty of the liminal space we occupied as queers. We […]

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Carrie Bornstein, Healing

#metoo

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by Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director The last time I wrote for this blog I was preparing to deliver a baby as a gestational surrogate, for a Jewish couple from London. So, yeah… that happened. On September 28, 2017 I delivered a 6 lb., 10 oz. baby girl – you can read the whole birth story […]

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