by Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Memories are strange. They vanish and reappear in unpredictable ways. Sometimes their natural habitat is our solitary and unconscious mind; other times, a shared moment with a friend. We tend to memories in our dreams, in an unexpected wave of nostalgia, and at the dinner table. As Jews, […]
Continue Readingby Anonymous For many years after Mayyim Hayyim opened, I tried to figure out how and when I’d experience my own first mikveh story. Moments came and went. I thought, maybe when I turn 50? Menopause? Last kid graduates from high school? Youngest graduates from college? How about becoming a grandma? Somehow, I was never […]
Continue Readingby Leah Robbins, Administrative and Marketing Assistant Deep breath. Rip the band-aid… My tenure as Administrative and Marketing Assistant at Mayyim Hayyim has ended. I won’t be booking immersions, answering your calls, and most likely won’t be greeting your friendly faces around the building anymore. But don’t fret! The mikveh can’t get rid of me […]
Continue Readingby Amber Caulkins, Director of The Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network I don’t know about you, but I want to live in a world where a mikveh is part of every Jewish community. The Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network is bringing what was once a distant dream to life. Through our growing network […]
Continue Readingby Alon Neidich “This is why we came to America,” my grandmother whispered to my mother as she graduated from medical school. My grandparents fled Europe under the horrors of pogroms and persecution, my mother born in New York and my Abba (father) in a nascent Israel – each of their homes grounded in Jewish […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving At a small organization like Mayyim Hayyim, no one’s job exists in a silo. My title may be “Director of Annual Giving,” but my job doesn’t only include managing our yearly fundraising. I also oversee our communications; there’s also the art gallery, helping with programs when needed, and, […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Silverman I walked into Mayyim Hayyim apprehensive and excited. I had read an article and explored the website, but it was not until entering the building that I finally understood what all the fuss was about. I was welcomed by a gate saying, “Come in Peace,” followed by a beautiful path through a […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director For those of you on Mayyim Hayyim’s email list, you likely saw the message we shared last month that it appears the organization has been the victim of financial improprieties by a former staff person. While we are still working with forensic accountants to determine the exact extent and duration […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Salem Pearce Two weeks ago, I immersed at Mayyim Hayyim with almost a dozen people. The calendar full of appointments, one after the other, we took over the mikveh that early Friday morning. I immersed with my classmates, all of us candidates for rabbinical ordination from Hebrew College. We were to receive smicha […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director On May 30, we at Mayyim Hayyim launched our newest resource: Fertility Journeys: A Jewish Healing Guide. This book, lovingly created and compiled by Dalia Davis of Uprooted: The Jewish Communal Response to Fertility Journeys, provides readers a wealth of texts, meditations, stories, and exercises – all from […]
Continue Readingby Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education The seventh graders of the Jewish Community Day School (JCDS) are building a mikveh in Somerville. Or, to put it more precisely, a team of dedicated JCDS educators (in partnership with Mayyim Hayyim and others) created a week-long Learning Adventure that involved a hands-on education program at Mayyim […]
Continue Readingby Al Reitz It was fall the first time I asked my mom if I looked handsome, about halfway through my process of becoming Jewish. It’s hard to forget a moment like that—something shifts. I had my chin up high, my button-down shirt layered under a leather jacket. I wasn’t sold on the word quite […]
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