by Ashley Loc “The main difference is that hope is based on precedent, while faith is the strength to believe when there may never be proof.” Button-down shirt, slightly wrinkled pants, and a distinct hairline. With his almond-toe oxfords never ceasing to slam against the floor, my 8th grade History teacher is still worth remembering five years […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Less than forty-eight hours before Kol Nidre, I hurt my knee at a sports practice and it threw my whole Yom Kippur out of whack. When I woke Monday morning, the pain was worse, and I had trouble walking. Confused, tired, and now worried about the seriousness of my […]
Continue Readingby Ruth Oppenheim When Rabbi Klein announced a trip to Mayyim Hayyim, I signed up immediately. I have reached an age where I am well aware of how finite life is, and I recognized an opportunity for a spiritual experience. Though I was clear that I wanted to join Temple Habonim’s visit to Mayyim Hayyim, […]
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 […]
Continue Readingby Rachel Eisen, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Things can change in an instant. Last week, nearly 70 teens from Camp Ramah in New England came to visit Mayyim Hayyim. Our Associate Director of Education, Leeza, was rotating them in three groups through an education program, and she was masterfully teaching the second group when it started hailing. […]
Continue Readingby Walt Clark, Office Manager Stark: severe or bare in appearance or outline. This past week at Mayyim Hayyim the walls were empty. The art has come down as we wait for the next exhibit to go up. A fresh coat of paint has seemingly washed the nicks and scratches off the walls, so that all that is […]
Continue Readingby Iris Adams I’ve always been curious about the tradition of mikveh, so I was pleased to accept an invitation to visit Mayyim Hayyim in June with a group of women from the Merrimack Valley. When I walked through the gate by a pretty white and blue tiled bench set among greenery and gardens, I […]
Continue Readingby DeDe Jacobs-Komisar, Development Manager This week marks my first Mayyim Hayyim “work-iversary.” When I started as Development Manager in July of 2014, the very first thing I did was observe an educational program with high school students from Genesis, a Brandeis University Jewish studies summer program for teens from all over the world. It […]
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 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 […]
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