Mikveh Stories
“I went to a mikveh for the first time to mark a significant milestone of motherhood now that my daughters are adults. I wrote my own ceremony, filled with the spirit of my ancestors and influence of important women in my life. I immersed three times fully enveloped in the warm, clean waters. I recited meaningful prayers and read a poem I wrote that looked back at 22 years of hands-on mothering and voiced my hopes for my future and my daughters’ futures. I felt, and still feel, a lightness, an elation, a readiness for whatever comes next.”
- Maayanot Project Manager, Maayanot
(photo credit Kathryn Klibanoff)
“[The open mikveh] provided an amazing experience to mikveh newcomers like myself. My mikveh guide was thoughtful and sensitive, and the whole experience was incredibly meaningful and sacred.”
- Mikveh participant, Mayyim Hayyim
(photo credit Mayyim Hayyim)
“After my mother died, I immersed in the mikveh as part of my mourning process. The mikveh waters coated my body with a warmth that was instantly soothing, instantly healing. I could feel her presence with me. I stayed in those waters for a long time. I wept, I sang, and I wept some more. Every year I return and every time I am held once more.”
- immerseNYC participant
(photo by David Stuck, courtesy of The Soul Center at Beth El Congregation, Baltimore, MD)
“When I was about to start hormone replacement therapy as part of my gender transition, I went earlier that same day to the mikveh to immerse, and it was the first immersion of my life. Having a Jewish way to mark this change, especially after wondering whether I could be both Jewish and queer, was meaningful to me.
Also, as a person for whom prayer alone does not always make an impact, I found that a ritual that touched my body to mark the beginning of physical changes for my body had even more resonance than a ritual of voice and words only could have. Even though I was alone in the room, I felt connected to the Jewish people, rather than isolated in my solitary move toward my right gender.”
- Noah, mikveh participant
“My husband and I traveled from Israel to the US to meet our baby and her mom, who was our surrogate. Our time in the United States culminated in taking our daughter to the mikveh. Being able to immerse her in the warm and embracing waters of the mikveh and to welcome her into the covenant of our people was one of the most holy and beautiful experiences of our lives.”
- Mikveh participant
(photo credit Oregon Public Broadcasting)
