by Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director I love Fridays in the summer. The anticipation of a weekend filled with family, beach, sun, swimming, cousins, and a book — when every meal is al fresco, including Shabbat dinner lit only by candlelight and, by dessert, moonlight. At Mayyim Hayyim, Friday afternoons in July are marked […]
Continue Readingby 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 […]
Continue Readingby Shira M. Cohen-Goldberg The internal dialogue goes like this: I have to go to the mikveh. Do I really have to go this month? When can I go this week? Do I really have to go? I have between 3-4 on Thursday, but my meeting gets out at 2:30, which doesn’t leave me travel […]
Continue Readingby 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 […]
Continue Readingby Wendy Gonsenhauser, Teacher at Beth Tikvah Synagogue of Westborough MA and her 5th and 6th Grade Students Every year, Mayyim Hayyim’s Education Center sees over sixty programs for youth, (and another fifty for adults). Students come from day schools and synagogues all over the Greater Boston Area, some travelling from as far as New […]
Continue Readingby Cara Rock-Singer In Memory of Bonna Devorah Haberman z’’l, passed away June 16, 2015 On July 16, 2013, around thirty people gathered at Mayyim Hayyim for a Tisha b’Av program with Bonna Devorah Haberman z’’l to reflect on the relevance of the historical Temple commemorations today. Tisha b’Av has come to hold layers of Jewish sadness and […]
Continue Readingby Sarah Resnick Jenna Weissman Joselit’s recent column in The Forward “Why The Status of Judaica is Waning” wonders whether Judaica is now passé given that museums are turning away collections of intricately decorated menorahs and Kiddush cups, and invites readers to “re-engage with Judaica, if not on its own terms then as pieces of […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about ritual. And by “a lot,” I mean even more than usual for someone who is interning at an organization specifically devoted to ritual. There’s no mystery as to why—three things happened recently to cause this. First, I met with one of my […]
Continue ReadingGail Elson, Mikveh Guide It’s often night time when I enter to guide at the mikveh. I turn on the lights, lower the shades, and enjoy the stillness for a brief time until the first woman arrives. Sometimes there’s only one; other evenings there are four to six immersions. Most of the women I meet […]
Continue Readingby Walt Clark, Office Manager We finally made it! Summer is here and the garden at Mayyim Hayyim is in full bloom. It was a winter for the ages, with even some snow still remaining in Boston. We went from… to… At Mayyim Hayyim, we try to maintain not only a welcoming space, but also […]
Continue Readingby Rafi Spitzer Each person who comes to Mayyim Hayyim is offered a guide, a person trained to facilitate their immersion and to serve as a witness. The Mikveh guide is a representative of the community who acknowledges that a transition has taken place. As a Mikveh Guide, I have witnessed the immersions of grooms, Bar […]
Continue Readingby DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Development Manager This past weekend I saw a movie that was both over-the-top crazy and, as a feminist, enormously cathartic. I can’t get it out of my head. I’m speaking of Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth in the post-apocalyptic action series directed by George Miller. Have you guys seen this? It’s an insane […]
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