This month, our blog’s theme is mikva’ot from around the world. Mikveh is a ritual that spans centuries and continents; earlier this month we shared about a mikveh in Cuba, Uganda, and today we learn about the latest in mikveh news in Israel from Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David. If you have a mikveh story from another corner […]
Continue ReadingThis month, our blog’s theme is mikva’ot from around the world. Mikveh is a ritual that spans centuries and continents; earlier this month we shared Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker’s encounter with a mikveh in Cuba, and today we’re sharing Samantha Lakin’s trip to a mikveh in Uganda. Stay tuned for next week, when we share about a unique mikveh in Israel. If you […]
Continue Readingby Cantor Lori Salzman About ten years ago I was approached by a friend who was soon to be married. She told me she really didn’t want a traditional bridal shower and asked if there was some sort of simple Jewish celebration she could do. I was a little surprised, since she is one of […]
Continue ReadingBy Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker I recently led a congregational mission to Cuba where, among many things, we visited an Orthodox synagogue in Havana. One of the lay leaders, Ya’akov, spoke to our group about the synagogue’s history, its members, their services, and their practices. In the chapel, tarnished Torah crowns adorned the bimah, and […]
Continue Readingby Elisha Gechter You see blood and it changes everything. You go from being unharmed to wounded, from ritually ready (tahor) to ritually unready (tameh), and sometimes from being pregnant to losing that pregnancy. And that’s what happened to me – at 10 weeks pregnant, responding to a middle of the night cry from my […]
Continue Readingby Kelly Banker, Intern The poet Mary Oliver says: “To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal, to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.” Although Mary Oliver […]
Continue Readingby Daniel Goldberg December 8th, 2015: my first mikveh experience. I’ve been Jewish all my life, but up until a few months ago I didn’t even know this ancient ritual could be practiced by men, other than for the purpose of conversion. I met Rachel Eisen, then an intern at Mayyim Hayyim, at a Jewish event […]
Continue Readingby Kelly Banker, Intern A few weeks ago, I was in deep need of a ritual space. I was yearning for a way to mark a rite of passage, a moment in time, with my partner (who is Christian), and yet finding something that would be meaningful for the both of us was feeling increasingly […]
Continue ReadingWelcome to the Last Installment of our October Blog Series, From Rachel Hillman, Guest Editor October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a month where the media highlights breast cancer, research for treatment and, one day, a cure. During October, many women and men share their stories about how breast cancer impacted them or their family. Last year, after being […]
Continue Readingby Carrie Bornstein, Executive Director Originally posted on the Times of Israel Blog It’s been one year since Rabbi Barry Freundel was discovered to be spying on women as they prepared to immerse in the mikveh in Washington, DC. Since that time news reporters, rabbis, and individuals all over the world have placed significant attention […]
Continue Readingby Walt Clark, Office Manager Wow. Last month was insane. We had 233 immersions in the month of September. That is the most we have ever had. In any month. Ever! We have been on track to have more immersions this year than past years, but this was something different. Many people came to immerse before the high […]
Continue Readingby Leah Wittenberg, Mayyim Hayyim Intern Last Monday, I woke up startled, breathing quickly and heavily. I had just experienced the oddest nightmare: Tufts Hillel was being shut down. I couldn’t tell you the exact reason why Hillel was closing, but I remember my panic clearly. I felt anxious and I was in tears as I […]
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