by Rene Katersky This letter was sent to us by Rene, a long-time mikveh guide and educator, following the “Get Ready: Releasing the Past, Embracing the Future” program that Mayyim Hayyim ran before the High Holidays this year: My favorite local beach beckons, with its sparsely inhabited sand, picturesque beauty, and crystal clear waves lapping the shore; a perfect […]
Continue Readingby Rene Katersky, Mayyim Hayyim Mikveh Guide Judaism is filled with beautiful traditions and rituals. Indeed, our lives and the lives of our families are made fuller and richer by the traditions that we establish. In so doing, we honor special moments and make them holy. I find it heartwarming to know that some of […]
Continue Readingby Alanna Cooper I generally don’t speak much about mikveh. An intimate aspect of life, practiced in almost total privacy, the topic doesn’t lend itself to much conversation. Now, on occasion of Mayyim Hayyim’ tenth anniversary celebration, I’ll open up, using the opportunity to reflect on why I miss it so much since I moved […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen When life hands you lemons, call Carrie Bornstein. If a truer lesson is out there, I have yet to find it. In my attempts to discover what I want to be when I grow up (any suggestions? I’m open!), I have found myself slightly without a job. I have a couple […]
Continue Readingby Robin Weintraub, Mikveh Center Coordinator It’s almost time to build the mishkan (The not-so-helpful English translation of that is “tabernacle”, but really it’s where God lives – I mean, to the extent that God “lives” anywhere – it is the physical manifestation of God’s presence in the Bible’s imagination). Bnai Yisrael, literally the children […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director As a staff member and Mikveh Guide at Mayyim Hayyim, I often get asked how often, when and why I immerse. That might be a personal question to some, but I don’t mind. I actually like talking about my immersion experiences because each one led to the next […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi Sandi Intraub, Mikveh Guide Zeh Hayom Asah Adonai Negilah v’nismichah bo, “This is the day that God has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). It was indeed a moment of rejoicing when Sam emerged, glowing, after having immersed in the mikveh. She was now officially Jewish, though […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Before I started working at Mayyim Hayyim, I was trained as a Mikveh Guide and Educator (Cohort 6, baby!). Although I enjoy my “day job”, there’s a part of me that misses what got me here in the first place. When I first started guiding, I often chose […]
Continue Readingby Debbie Issokson, Mikveh Guide I recently returned from a trip to Spain, a country filled with Jewish history, most of it buried, hidden or wiped out of sight since the Spanish Inquisition of the 1400’s. Ubeda was one of our destinations, a small town in the Andalucia region. As I explored TripAdvisor, I found […]
Continue Readingby Jim Billings, Mikveh Guide Do you ever wonder where life might be taking you? Life’s journeys are usually full of ups and downs, twists and turns and paths unexpected, and sometimes we end up in the strangest of places. Approximately 30 years ago I converted to Judaism. I said the Shema (a prayer that […]
Continue Readingby Dr. Naomi Marmon Grumet Today we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim (the day Jerusalem was reunified in 1967), and the miracle of sovereignty over the wondrous city of Jerusalem. I think that sharing this blog about a program that emanates from Jerusalem is a wonderful way to celebrate! Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows about […]
Continue Readingby Benjamin Maron, Mikveh Guide In many ways, my work has been about the people at the fringes of our communities, those outside looking in. I’ve worked in social services, ran youth outreach groups, and started interfaith dialogue groups between Muslim and Jewish students on a too volatile campus. I spend my days at InterfaithFamily, […]
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