Potpourri

by Mayyim Hayyim

2017 was a marvelous year for the Mayyim Hayyim, and even more so for our community blog. We published 89 new posts, and our community viewed them over 20,000 times!

The content was extraordinary and varied. We’ve categorized our posts by topic – just take a look at the righthand side of your screen to read what interests you most.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who shared their stories. Each of them are well worth a read… or even a re-read. If you didn’t catch them the first time around, here are the top five posts of the year:

1. My Budding Feminist by Leah Bieler
“As a staunch feminist, I assumed she wanted to take this mitzvah by the horns, and wrestle it to the ground. She wanted to turn what some women view as an anti-feminist ritual into a positive, empowering moment.”

2. On Mourning and Healing by Nadav David
“The mikveh provided me the opportunity to look beyond the sadness and grief I had been overwhelmed with, and to start to feel connected to my grandfather’s memory through an ancient and deeply meaningful tradition.”

3. A National Network of Mikva’ot is Born by Carrie Bornstein
“Expert trainer and facilitator, Rae Ringel, helped us build relationships with one another, consider our shared values and what the network will stand for, offer support and input on current challenges in our communities, talk about raising money for a mikveh, and envision some of the work that we might do together in the future.”

4. My Miscarriage and My Mikveh by Elisha Gechter
“We also marked our fortune in having a family that held our tears, a community that was gentle with us, and a mikveh that acknowledges the need for many types of healing.”

5. A New Life for the New Year by Carrie Bornstein
“I’ve seen couples return to immerse in the 9th month of pregnancy, or post-partum with a newborn in their arms, or to celebrate the adoption and conversion of their child. These are the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen.”

Thank you for making 2017 a year of unprecedented mikveh magic. Want to make sure you don’t miss a post? Follow our blog by entering your email address in the text box at the top right of this screen, and they’ll be delivered right to your inbox as soon as they’re published.