Immersion Ceremonies

Her favorite place in Israel is Amirim, a vegetarian moshav near the Kinneret. You can ask her where to find the best Korean-Italian pizza in LA or TexMex enchiladas in Houston. Most of the contemporary re-embrace of the mikveh centers around its use to mark various life transitions, many of them related to grief, healing and the processing of trauma. Some have embraced the mikveh ritual as a way to prepare for treatment of a serious illness, or as a way to mark the completion of a successful course of treatment.

Julie Childers (she/her)

Mayyim Hayyim has worked hard to remain open in the safest way possible, and we look forward to welcoming you. Please click here to learn about updated procedures, developed in partnership with infectious disease and legal experts. Mayyim Hayyim provides a private room where you mayyim hayyim can undress, remove all jewelry, wash, shampoo, brush your teeth, and remove all obstacles (physical and symbolic) between your body and the water.

Rising Tide Member Spotlight: Mayim Rabim – Louis and Marilyn Hurwitz Community Mikveh

• New construction included two beautiful immersion pools – mikva’ot – four preparation suites, and a welcoming reception area.
• She is past executive director of Our Bodies, Ourselves and former Vice President of Education at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
• Every ceremony includes a pre-immersion kavanah (intention), blessings or kavanot (intentions) to follow three immersions, and a concluding reading.
• Everyone, regardless of religious background, may accompany a friend or family member who is coming for an immersion.
• It was very gentle, whole and fulfilling,” she said of the moment, which marked her formal entry into the Jewish community.
• The presence of an organization on JewishBoston does not imply endorsement of the organization, its programs or its statements by JewishBoston.
• However, no one is ever turned away from Mayyim Hayyim because of an inability to make a gift.

We’re also creating a new picture-guide version of our Seven Kavanot for mikveh preparation, which is a whole set of steps that a person goes through to get ready for the mikveh. In many mikvaot, there’s a photocopied checklist on the wall that says, “Take a shower, brush your teeth,” etc. Ours has that, but it’s also a spiritual kind of preparation, that helps you think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Because most American Jews were unfamiliar with even the idea of mikveh, Mayyim Hayyim’s board and executive director launched a dual campaign to teach about the possibilities of this ancient ritual as well as to raise funds to build a totally unprecedented institution. But with visionary help from many individuals in the greater Boston area, the idea caught on and money was raised. In the next couple of weeks, we’re launching a companion discussion guide to go along with that six-minute film.

Jewish Agency, local and American donors establish new fund to support northern Israeli businesses

• Mayyim Hayyim opened in 2004 and by the end of 2014, it had hosted more than 2,000 conversions and nearly 14,000 immersions over all.
• There was someone who was converting to Judaism, who waited for Mayyim Hayyim to open in order to convert.
• Traditionally, a Mikveh Guide acts as a witness to make certain that one’s entire body (including all hair) is immersed under water.
• In fact one of Mayyim Hayyim’s guiding principles is tzniyut which means modesty.
• The walkway coming into the building is all to regulation – there are no stairs to climb.

Writer Anita Diamant, author of the novel The Red Tent, had the idea to create a beautiful, vibrant, inclusive mikveh space, Childers said. Diamant assembled a small, dynamic founding board and hired Aliza Kline as Mayyim Hayyim’s executive director. In raising funds for its launch, the mikveh’s board and executive director launched a campaign to educate as well as to fundraise; in 2004, the facility opened in the Boston suburb of Newton, Mass., with two mikva’ot – immersion pools – four preparation suites, and a reception area. The facility is also home to the Paula Brody & Family Education Center, which contains an event hall and art gallery.

Mayyim Hayyim houses two immersion pools, an education center and an art gallery that offers programming and events for adults and children. Mayyim Hayyim is a “kosher” or “proper” mikveh, built and maintained under rabbinic supervision. Each of our two mikva’ot actually consists of two permanent pools, watertight pits built into the ground. The first, smaller pool is located outside and called the bor haotzar (collection pool); it is filled with at least 40 se’ah or 200 gallons of “living water” (water not drawn by human hands). At Mayyim Hayyim, rain water fulfills this purpose; our borot (pl) each contain at least 500 gallons of rain/living water.

Coming full circle, Mayyim Hayyim CEO returns to mikveh where she immersed to convert

• Her favorite place in Israel is Amirim, a vegetarian moshav near the Kinneret.
• The spaces on the floor where people would need to go for the education center or the mikveh are all wheelchair-accessible.
• Mayyim Hayyim, a community mikveh ritual bath and education center in Newton, Massachusetts, opened its doors on May 14, 2004.
• Diamant assembled a small, dynamic founding board and hired Aliza Kline as Mayyim Hayyim’s executive director.
• In 2019, Mayyim Hayyim celebrated its 20,000th immersion and 3,000th conversion.
• Kline’s experience, energy, and passion for Jewish life was instrumental in turning the dream of a new kind of mikveh into a 21st century reality.

We bought an aquatic lift that’s used to help lower someone into the water who can’t walk; that was an early purchase. There was someone assets = liabilities + equity who was converting to Judaism, who waited for Mayyim Hayyim to open in order to convert. He helped us figure it out, including what kind of equipment we’d need to purchase and how to protect someone’s privacy.

Rising Tide Member Spotlight: ImmerseNYC

“The mivkeh should be place for reflection and celebration, but there was no time for any of those people to meditate or sing; nowhere for the assembled rabbis to lead each of those new Jews through a thoughtful, personal ritual; and afterward, nothing to do but get back in the car. As if it was no big deal to change Law Firm Accounts Receivable Management your identity, alter your family constellation, and transform the Jewish people forever. Since the opening of its building, the organization has sponsored art exhibits and public programs to engage the community. To mark its first anniversary, the group staged a performance of Mikveh Monologues, modeled after Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, and featuring the stories of mikveh users. There are communities now that have started something completely from scratch, based on this model.