Infertility and Prayer: Hana and Sarah
In Judaism, the archetype of prayer is Hana, a barren woman praying for a child. But since my infertility diagnosis, [...]
A Father’s Perspective on Loss
Photo by Matthew Fassnacht Four words, that’s all it took to throw me off course. It had been [...]
Pour Out Your Heart Like Water
Pour out your heart like water; for you are in the presence of Hashem (Lamentations 2:19). photo by Paul [...]
PTSD is my Disability
Photo by Leora Pinto Post-trauma is a psychiatric issue that stems from an external event in a person’s [...]
I Wanted to Die Last Night: Endometriosis
Photo by Daniel Garcia Endometriosis is a condition in which the layer of tissue that normally covers the [...]
The ‘Disabled’ Mikveh Attendant
by: nick-van-den-berg To further educate mikveh attendants and the larger community about the challenges of disabled women at [...]
The Invisible Connection
מורות ליוגה נשית על פי מירה ארצי פדן” Women who are fortunate enough to receive their period naturally [...]
That One Time I Loved Niddah
I’m torn between mourning for a missed opportunity, the relief of a brand new beginning, and the celebration I used to feel at the end of niddah, before the infertility monster reared its ugly head.
Choosing the Birth Control Right for You; The Diaphragm
So, do you know where your cervix is? Not the first question I expected to hear as I embarked on [...]
Yoga Nashit- Embracing Your Changing Self
מכנס יוגה נשית של מירה ארצי-פדן 2017 I am like many working women in Israel – I have [...]
Empathy and Compassion; A Mikveh Visualization
This piece was presented to mikveh attendants and rebbetzins at Atlanta’s Infertility Sensitivity Training run by the Jewish Fertility Foundation [...]
May This Year Be THE Year
Photo Courtesy of Rivka Levine It was nearly mussaf on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. I sat [...]
Learning to Breathe; Broken Hearts and Infertile Women
When we think of infertility, we think of the reproductive organs, but the heart is “at the heart of the [...]
When Pilates isn’t Enough; Do You Know What Pelvic and Genital Prolapses Are?
Making one’s mikveh experience isn’t only about the physical condition of the mikveh itself, or how the balanit does her [...]
Moving on After Miscarriage: Healing Body and Mind
Photo by Jodi Hirsch Lummerman I find it amazing how our physical bodies and our minds are so connected. I’ve [...]
Making the Mikveh a Place to Talk about (or not Talk about) Sex and Fertility
When a woman comes to the mikveh, her mind may very well be elsewhere: on the intimacy to come, the [...]
Suffering in Silence: Talking about Infertility and Miscarriage
Miscarriages and fertility challenges happen a lot; even within the Jewish community. Though many people suffer through the pain of [...]