by Carrie Bornstein We made it. October 10; a.k.a. the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishrei; a.k.a. the first day in three-and-a-half weeks we are no longer in the midst of “the holidays.” Phew. In one week we begin the month of Cheshvan, a.k.a. “Mar Cheshvan,” or the bitter month of Cheshvan; bitter because it […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Every summer at camp there would be some new rule or some change that would seem to have dramatic and life-altering consequences. A schedule change (but we always swim after sports!), a favorite food item discontinued (but we always have purple bug juice at lunch!), a curfew made […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein Today is one of my favorite days of the year at Mayyim Hayyim: the day we put the honey sticks next to our front door in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah. Usually I hold off – waiting until the world’s birthday arrives to reunite my apple with its honey. But today… let’s just […]
Continue ReadingBy Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director When I was growing up in Jackon, Mississippi (yes, there are Jews in Mississippi—but not many), the only way to be involved in the Jewish community was to go to services and religious school. So, my family went to services most Friday nights. As a petulant teenager, you […]
Continue Readingby Rabbi David Lerner I was pretty nervous – I had never been “in” a mikveh – not to mention, it was the night before my wedding! As my father and I drove up to the mikveh that Saturday night, I prepared by thinking about my life – what I was happy about, what I […]
Continue Readingby Jamie Bornstein Each night Carrie and I settle into our familiar routine. Dinner, kid bedtime, clean up dinner, adult parallel play (each of us sitting on the couch with our laptops catching up on work), Seinfeld at 11 pm, and sleep. Ours is a story familiar to many full-time working couples (with the exception […]
Continue ReadingBy Nina Stewart, Mayyim Hayyim Administrative Assistant This past Sunday, Earth Day, New England was soaked in a heavy rain that provided much-needed respite from a three-months-long drought. As a Southern transplant, I am still awestruck by the slowness that this region’s rainstorms bring to city life. I spent most of the day reading and […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Aliza Kline, Founding Executive Director of Mayyim Hayyim It’s hard to believe—but I am now beginning the last nine weeks of this extraordinary 10-month sabbatical in Israel. Pesach is vacation time for every Israeli family with school-age children. Each day of the holiday, all five of us (my husband Bradley, and our daughters […]
Continue ReadingBy Lisa Port White, Mayyim Hayyim Mikveh Guide Mayyim Hayyim is one of a handful of communities that in combination underpin the social and spiritual aspects of my life, and I miss it. I feel a little heartache when I drive past the building, which I do with some frequency. I think about dropping by […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Acting Executive Director When I first saw the headlines about Anne Frank’s posthumous baptism, I thought it odd, to say the least. Days later, the news came about Daniel Pearl. Thankfully the Mormon Church later released this letter clarifying its policy that such baptisms by proxy should not include names from certain […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Aliza Kline, Executive Director of Mayyim Hayyim Chag Urim Sameach! Happy Hanukkah! The other night we lit our first candles and our girls, Ela (7.5), Gila (5) and Nomi (2.5), along with new Israeli friends, sang their little hearts out in traditional Hebrew songs and then proceeded to fill up on latkes, homemade […]
Continue ReadingWritten by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein Another version of this post was first published on the Academy for Jewish Religion website. Sitting in a private bathroom stall on Rosh Hashanah at my synagogue, I notice a sign for a hotline for domestic abuse. I am saddened that we need such signs. I am relieved that we […]
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