Being a Mikveh Guide is my opportunity

by Glenna Lee

In the Seven Steps Online Mikveh Guide training program, we learn Maimonides believed that, “If a man has immersed himself but without special intention, it as though he has not immersed at all.”

It is probably this exact notion that draws me to mikveh as a connection point to Judaism.

I am a very “gut instinct” person. When I saw the Seven Steps program listed on the JTS alumni website, I registered without any doubt in my mind: it was what I’d been looking for.

I realized that water plays a deep role in my peace and happiness. As often as I can, you’ll find me swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, or if without access to a lake or pool, even in the bath. Water is where I find nurturing and invigoration.

So I was touched when I read about Rachel Adler’s vision that mikveh immersion takes us back into the womb, empowering us to create our new creation story. Perhaps that’s why immersing in water feels so good to me: it’s my liminal space to renew.

I am drawn to roles where I can inspire others to go deeper within themselves while also making the community around them a better place. For many years I’ve served as an education director at various synagogues.

I’ve brought adults snow-shoeing on Tu B’Shevat, organized an olive oil tasting on Hanukkah, taken families on a hike to blow shofar on top of a mountain for Rosh Hashanah. I’ve brought in bubbies to teach Eastern European recipes, a retired public school art teacher to guide students in making our own symbolic Chagall windows, local theater professionals to bring the Tevya stories to life, visiting Israeli families to teach the symbolism of Israeli dancing on Yom Haatzamut.

Yet, I’ve been searching for a role within the Jewish sphere that braids together my interests in spirituality, learning, mindfulness, and meditation.

Being a Mikveh Guide is my opportunity.

Seven Steps has been meaningful to me because it’s making me a Jewish learner again, a role I love. It has connected me with a variety of people across countries, genders, ages, races, education levels. That opportunity cannot be taken for granted.

It even brought me up to date in the power of modern technological teaching! The creative form, I’ve come to learn, is as powerful as the content in getting us to wrestle with what we are learning.

In the course, we learned this beautiful concept from Mircea Eliade:

“The power of water is that it purifies, regenerates and gives new birth. It divides and creates change. The opportunity that water brings to us in a Mikvah is a vehicle for change. Starting fresh, not because the water droplets clean us, but because immersing changes us.”

I am grateful for the opportunity Rising Tide has given me and our cohort to immerse in both the traditional and modern understanding of mikveh. Ultimately it changed us, and gave us the tools to become leaders in bringing others to the mikveh.

Want to learn more about resources for Mikveh Guides? Check out Seven Steps Mikveh Guide Training and Mikveh Guide Membership.

Glenna Lee is a religious educator specializing in mindfulness and meditation. She received her degree in Jewish education from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and is grateful for the opportunity Mayyim Hayyim has given her to connect to Judaism in a new, deeply spiritual facet.