Mikveh: What I Didn’t Know I Needed

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by Terry Rosenberg, Board Member My personal, direct experience with ritual immersion happened many years ago, and my memory is sweet. But the felt, lived, embodied experience has faded. I love Mayyim Hayyim for the same reasons as so many others – its inclusivity, beauty, and ability to empower me to enact an ancient ritual in […]

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A National Network of Mikva’ot is Born

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by Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director Since before Mayyim Hayyim opened, we’ve gotten requests to share our model with other communities. We’ve offered individualized consultations, hosted international conferences, trainings, and a blog, developed curricula and immersion ceremonies, and created short documentary films that celebrate how the mikveh (of all things!) can be a place where people […]

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Don’t “Pass Over” the Mikveh

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by Wendy Handler, Mikveh Guide  A friend recently sent me an email that said, “Keep calm and carry on…spring is coming!” with a beautiful picture of budding flowers in my favorite colors. The message did little to soothe my nerves. Spring is coming…translation: Passover is coming, too…heavy sigh…already I anticipate the back-breaking cleaning. The signs […]

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The Gift of Guiding

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by Rene Katersky, Mikveh Guide As I approach another significant birthday, one ending in “0” (aren’t they all significant at this age?), I have been thinking a lot about the self-imposed benefits of turning another year older. I am mindful of my desire to say “no” more often…no to things I no longer feel passionate […]

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Always be Prepared

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by Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving If there’s one thing my mother taught me (okay, there are many things my mother taught me, but it’s a saying, right?), it is to always be prepared. Even if you don’t think you have to go to the bathroom, try. Don’t wait for the warning light to […]

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Healing

On Mourning and Healing

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by Nadav David Just over a year ago, my grandfather, Abraham Gittelson z”l, passed at the age of 87. Three days beforehand, I sat next to his bed at the Rehabilitation Center in North Miami Beach, reading the morning’s sport page to him and discussing the upcoming Shabbat’s parasha (weekly Torah portion). I fed him […]

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A New Twist for a Traditional Holiday

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by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director It’s time to pack away this year’s Purim costume, try valiantly to clean up the glitter, put away the glue gun, and start thinking about Passover. Four weeks from tonight we’ll be sitting around our tables munching on parsley and waiting for our turn to come around in […]

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The Monthly Mitzvah

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by Anonymous As a Jewish woman living a traditional halachic life (governed by Jewish law), I am often faced with questions from myself and others regarding my religious choices. One question that will likely always come up is that of the place of women in halachic Judaism. In modern-day Orthodoxy, the synagogue has become the focus […]

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Being a Mikveh Guide is Rabbinic Training

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by Hayley Goldstein, Mikveh Guide When I walk through the arch and down the winding, flower-lined path, punch in the security code, hang my coat up in the closet, and sit down at the desk, I have a distinct feeling that only Mikveh Guides feel. It feels like a fluttering in my heart and belly, […]

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Jewish Survival: It Takes Chutzpah

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by Leah Robbins, Administrative and Marketing Assistant International Women’s Day is on the horizon (March 8), and this year, like every year, I am reminded of the enormity of the weight of the world carried on the backs of women. I am reminded that women are made responsible for creating history and carrying history. I realize […]

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Sunday Fun-day at Water Wonders: A Parent’s Perspective

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by Dalia Wassner On a chilly, fall morning, my 3 kids and I headed out to Brandeis, excited to participate in our first Water Wonders, a Mayyim Hayyim family program for children in grades K-2. Mayyim Hayyim has been a special place for me since the day before my own wedding, just over 10 years […]

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There’s No I in Uterus

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By Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director  Life has been a little busy lately. For all the normal reasons, yes. And, there are some other reasons, too. Mayyim Hayyim has a funny way of having an impact on people, myself included. So I want to share with you some of what’s keeping me busy lately, in the […]

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