At Mayyim Hayyim, we often receive heartwarming thank you letters and emails from guests sharing their immersion experiences. It’s our pleasure to share these mikveh moments with our beloved community. Dear Mayyim Hayyim, Although I was very much looking forward to immersing for the first time before my marriage last month, I had not anticipated […]
Continue Readingby Jim Billings, Mikveh Guide It is finished, and it has begun! Over 30 years ago, I converted to Judaism. I would eventually marry a Jewish woman, and raise a Jewish family. My rabbi was not “into” the ritual of mikveh as part of the conversion process, so I never immersed to complete my conversion, as […]
Continue Readingby Anonymous I grew up in an observant household, and because of that, going to the mikveh was, in many ways, a given for me. Ever since I was old enough to figure out why my mom would go out for a while each month and come back with wet hair, I just assumed that […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Miriam-Simma Walfish Niddah is the practice of abstaining from sexual intimacy around the time of menstruation. When contemplating the rabbinic laws surrounding menstruation, it can be easy to wonder: Why is there a whole area of Jewish law devoted to the intricacies of determining the beginning and end of women’s menstrual cycles? At times, […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted in March 2017 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, […]
Continue ReadingOriginally posted on January 18, 2017 by Cantor Sarah Bolts and Michael Chernicoff Sarah: I honestly didn’t know what to expect from a pre-marriage class. I grew up in the Orthodox community, where pre-marriage classes came in the form of “kallah (bride) classes” in which a bride would learn about the laws of niddah (regular separation […]
Continue Readingby Lisa Berman, Mikveh and Education Director December 16, 1990, our wedding day, was the culmination of some very speedy planning. My then-boyfriend Jeff and I, living 200 miles apart for two years, waited until we knew we could both be employed in the same city to get engaged. We managed the trifecta of life […]
Continue Readingby Laura Bishop I did not have a traditional Jewish wedding. In another life, where I married another man, I would have loved to have been under the chuppah (wedding canopy), wrapped in a tallis (prayer shawl), as the rabbi blessed us, our union, and consecrated our marriage under the laws of Moses and Israel. […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein Last week, Carrie shared these words as she was honored at Mayyim Hayyim’s spring benefit, Soul/Life/Cycle: My first job interview at Mayyim Hayyim was exactly ten years ago this Thursday; less than 48 hours before Eliana was born. At the time I couldn’t decide how I felt about doing a 9th month […]
Continue Readingby 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 […]
Continue ReadingAs Beyond the Huppah 2017 approaches, we are reminded of these unique insights written and adapted by educator Judy Elkin. Imagine it. Ten couples sitting around a table, munching on Terra Chips, hummus and carrots, mixed nuts, and Peanut M&M’s; some soon-to-be married, some already married, in their late 20’s and older, gay and straight, […]
Continue Readingby Sarah Bolts and Michael Chernicoff, Beyond the Huppah Participants fall 2015 Sarah: I honestly didn’t know what to expect from a pre-marriage class. I grew up in the Orthodox community, where pre-marriage classes came in the form of “kallah (bride) classes” in which a bride would learn about the laws of niddah (regular separation of […]
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