by Laura Seide, intern There is a very popular urban legend that an elderly male rabbi once stood up at synagogue and, addressing a female presenter, said “A woman belongs on the bima like an orange belongs on a seder plate.” From that day forward, women everywhere have been placing oranges on their seder plates […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein My five-year old has been asking for a while if she can go swimming where I work. She loves Mayyim Hayyim, which is probably not entirely unrelated to the never-ending supply of animal crackers and pretzels. In the past few months her requests have gotten more frequent. So I engaged her in […]
Continue Readingby Sherri Goldman, Administrative and Finance Director Recently the Mayyim Hayyim staff had a working retreat. Twice each year our team goes off-site for a day of bonding, building our team culture, contemplating our purpose and motives, and working on one or more specific goals. It’s a day where we are offered an opportunity to draw […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Lev Baesh Twice now, I have had the pleasure of celebrating weddings at Mayyim Hayyim, immediately following conversion with a Beit Din and immersion. The first couple came from Canada with parents and a brother. I had worked with her toward conversion via Skype and they wanted to complete her conversion at the […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Last week marked the end of my first year as a full-time employee at Mayyim Hayyim. Many have heard me joke, “If you harass people enough, they’ll hire you,” but the truth is, I am incredibly lucky to be able to pass under the sign reading “boachem l’shalom” […]
Continue ReadingBecoming a Mikveh Guide is a thoughtful and intentional process. Seth Stadfeld is a member of Cohort 8, our newest and first-ever men’s only training, and offers his thoughtful and intentional reflections about immersing in the mikveh by Seth Stadfeld, Mikveh Guide Trainee I have been wrestling with how to understand all I am learning […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein I never thought I was making a statement. And yet, as I watched Makers: Women Who Make America on PBS a few weeks ago, I was blown away. If you didn’t see it, Makers tells the story of women “asserting their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic […]
Continue Readingby Diane Black, Rebecca Friedman, and Jessica Friedman A few weeks ago, Diane Black, one of our board members and a Mikveh Guide, brought her daughter Rebecca and her granddaughter Jessica to Mayyim Hayyim to celebrate Jessica becoming a Bat Mitzvah. Diane guided Jessica, and Rebecca witnessed. A note from the editor: Diane, Rebecca, and Jessica […]
Continue Readingby Sarah Gurvis, Administrative Assistant Anyone who has spent any amount of time with children knows that they tend to ask a lot of questions. When I’m not working at Mayyim Hayyim, I work as a part time nanny for 4 wonderful and particularly inquisitive girls. Normally, the questions are of a definitive nature such […]
Continue Readingby Jim Ball, Mikveh Guide Music and Mayyim Hayyim are no strangers to one another. As a mikveh guide, I have heard how musical accompaniment is part of the immersion experience, whether it’s the singing and clapping of “Siman tov u’ Mazel tov” following a conversion, or a quiet recording setting the mood for a […]
Continue Readingby Jody Comins, Development and Events Coordinator “Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin Since I began working at Mayyim Hayyim last […]
Continue Readingby Allison Poirier Last week, on a very cold and wintry Friday morning I left my apartment in Morningside Heights to catch the subway to 74th street. I was on my way to the Upper West Side Mikveh. Along with six other women, I was on my way to a field trip planned as part […]
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