A Quiet Holiness

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by Kelly Banker, Intern A few weeks ago, I was in deep need of a ritual space. I was yearning for a way to mark a rite of passage, a moment in time, with my partner (who is Christian), and yet finding something that would be meaningful for the both of us was feeling increasingly […]

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A Community of Belonging

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Welcome to the Last Installment of our October Blog Series, From Rachel Hillman, Guest Editor October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a month where the media highlights breast cancer, research for treatment and, one day, a cure. During October, many women and men share their stories about how breast cancer impacted them or their family. Last year, after being […]

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Blue for Boys, Pink for Girls

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by Leeza Negelev, Associate Director of Education Do you remember the moment when you figured out the world would relate to you according to your physical sex? I realized this while picking apples with my family at age four; I was hot, and my dad said I should take off my shirt. For the first time […]

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A Year Since the Hidden Cameras at the Mikveh… Has Anything Changed?

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by Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director Originally posted on the Times of Israel Blog  It’s been one year since Rabbi Barry Freundel was discovered to be spying on women as they prepared to immerse in the mikveh in Washington, DC. Since that time news reporters, rabbis, and individuals all over the world have placed significant attention […]

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History for the Holidays

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by Walt Clark, Office Manager Wow. Last month was insane. We had 233 immersions in the month of September. That is the most we have ever had. In any month. Ever! We have been on track to have more immersions this year than past years, but this was something different. Many people came to immerse before the high […]

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Reflections on Hillel, the High Holidays, and (not) Hoping

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by Leah Wittenberg, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Last Monday, I woke up startled, breathing quickly and heavily.  I had just experienced the oddest nightmare: Tufts Hillel was being shut down. I couldn’t tell you the exact reason why Hillel was closing, but I remember my panic clearly.  I felt anxious and I was in tears as I […]

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It's Not That Different

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Leeann Simons, Mikveh Guide From the Mayyim Hayyim vaults, written almost 9 years ago. Last night I had the privilege of being part of one woman’s healing ritual. She had been sexually assaulted by a former “good” friend, and was coming to us as part of her moving forward with her life. What I want to […]

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The Violin and the Joods Bad

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by Iris Adams I’ve always been curious about the tradition of mikveh, so I was pleased to accept an invitation to visit Mayyim Hayyim in June with a group of women from the Merrimack Valley.  When I walked through the gate by a pretty white and blue tiled bench set among greenery and gardens, I […]

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Transmikveh

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by A. Fox In my parents’ home back in St. Paul, Minnesota, I used to tiptoe into the bathroom late at night, lock the door behind me, put a towel in the door’s crack and turn off the lights. I knew how many steps it took to reach the faucet. How many inches to lift my hand for […]

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Orange is the New Black but Mikveh is the New Orange

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by Leah Wittenberg, Mayyim Hayyim Intern  “There was a mikfa on oitnb!” This was the slightly confusing text I received from one of my friends who is not Jewish, but knows I am interning at a mikveh, Mayyim Hayyim, this summer. She is also in tune with Judaism due to all the Friday nights she has spent […]

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Springing Forward

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by DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Development Manager “Spring,” that mythic season of thaw and bloom, arrives this weekend. Boston has yet to be convinced. It’s 26 degrees outside as I write this, with the same three feet of snow on the ground as have been there since January. Last week it was sunny and got up to […]

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Mikveh

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by Nancy Sohn Schwartz Originally posted on Rabbitziona.com. Reposted with permission from author. Three months ago, just after my 69th birthday, I went to the mikveh. It was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. Ten years ago, while attending a CAJE Conference at Ohio State University, I was approached by a man, […]

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