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 […]
Continue Readingby Cara Rock-Singer, Mayyim Hayyim Intern A couple weeks ago, I sat in on a class at Mayyim Hayyim. Joy Ladin, a professor of English at Yeshiva University had brought a class of high school students from the Genesis high school program she was teaching at Brandeis, called, “Investigating Gender, Sexuality and Society.” Our Associate Director of […]
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Mikveh Guides transform the ordinary into the holy. Seven Steps is the essential online course for training the Mikveh Guide of today and tomorrow. Drawing from rabbinic sources, current psychology and the experiences of contemporary mikveh attendants, this 8-week training offers the knowledge and skills to facilitate immersions with dignity, respect, and modesty. Learn best […]
Continue ReadingIn this class, we will explore both the insights that queer theory and queer experience can bring to traditional texts about Niddah, Jewish menstrual law, and consider how our mikva’ot can better embrace these insights. All are invited to learn with us in this virtual Rising Tide Network webinar, hosted on Zoom, on Sunday, February […]
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Join us on June 25th at 12:00 PM for an exploration into the ritual of mikveh and how it has been reclaimed for traditional and nontraditional use by queer Jews. This session is designed for those who identify as LGBTQIA and their allies. We will also hear from three guests who will share how they have used mikveh to mark moments in their queer Jewish lives. Featured Guests Lea […]
Continue Readingby Naomi Sobel, Mikveh Guide If you ask Hallmark, June is wedding season. In my immediate family, June is a roller-coaster: we have three yartzheits (anniversary of one’s death), two birthdays (on the same day!), plus Father’s Day. At Mayyim Hayyim, it’s peak season for conversions – we have 25 conversion immersions scheduled just this month. […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein 2013 was a good year for The Mikveh Lady Has Left the Building. We published 99 new posts, and you (the collective “you”) viewed them nearly 31,000 times. The content was extraordinary, and varied. We’ve categorized it by topic – just take a look on the righthand side of your screen to […]
Continue Readingby Emilia Diamant Last week at a planning meeting for the Girls Night Out event, I was asked to respond to the question: “Why do you want a mikveh?” Many in the room shared answers about their personal immersions, family experiences, or just generally liking the idea of the place. When it came my turn, […]
Continue Readingby Britni de la Cretaz When we were beginning to plan our wedding, Ben and I began researching Jewish wedding traditions to see which ones felt meaningful to us. We were both raised Jewish and we were both bar mitzvahed (or bat mitzvahed, in my case), but neither one of us consider ourselves to be […]
Continue ReadingBy Gabriella Spitzer You may have seen my earlier post asking for mikveh stories from queer/LGBT-identified people. Thank you for those of you who responded to my survey! I was doing research for my final project in my Thinking Sexuality class this past semester, and I am excited to share with you some of what […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Gabriella Spitzer, Barnard College Student At Barnard College, where I am currently a junior, I am taking a class called Thinking Sexuality. Among other things, it deals with the intersections of queer/LGBT life and other aspects of identity. I’d love your help with research for my final project, researching how queer/LGBT Jews and […]
Continue ReadingAndrea Jacobs, Director of Education for Keshet, shares her thoughts on inclusive mikveh usage in her guest post. Andrea will be co-facilitating a panel on inclusion at our Gathering the Waters International Mikveh Conference. By traditional standards, I’m an unusual mikveh user. As a single woman and a liberal Jew, there are no halakhic imperatives […]
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