Date: Monday 22nd February 2021 (registration required - tinyurl.com/wellspringfeb22)
Contact: Rachel Heilbron, Wellspring Project Director
info@wellspringprojectuk.org,
Event information:
Following the inspiring launch of the Wellspring Project this event will delve deeper into the positive impact mikveh can have on our mental and physical wellbeing regardless of age, faith or gender.
Rabbi Neil Janes and Naomi Malka, director of the Adas Israel community mikveh in Washington will share inspiring stories of people who have used this ritual of immersion to mark intensely personal moments and help them through difficult times. They’ll discuss why North London needs a new community mikveh and the difference it could make to people across the community and beyond.
Rabbi Neil Janes, Rabbi of South Bucks Jewish Community with expertise in social action and education. Founder and former Executive Director of charitable company specialising in adult Jewish education. Leader in community development and change, supporting volunteers and management of staff, pastoral care, website maintenance and online learning.
Naomi Malka has served as the Director of the Adas Israel Community Mikvah in Washington, DC since 2006. As a pioneer in the progressive Mikvah movement, her work focuses on Mikvah as a tool for positive body image. Naomi created an award-winning program called Bodies of Water, which frames Mikvah, Jewish yoga, and mindful eating as important and embodied Jewish rituals. She is also the founder of Tevilab’Teva: Immersion in Nature, a program that brings safe (and bathing-suit on!) outdoor immersion to Jewish summer camps. She earned a masters in Jewish Music from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2000 and a BA in Sociology from UCLA in 1991.
We will also hear from Adas Israel mikveh users - Hazzan Enrique Ozur Bass and James Sullivan.
The Wellspring Project is using this event to launch a recruitment for new trustees.
Notes:
• A full press release will be issued directly after the event. Headshots are available.
• The event will be on Zoom - registration required - tinyurl.com/wellspringfeb22
• The event will be live streamed on Facebook and recorded
Background:
The Wellspring Project was initiated in 2018 (as the Mikveh Project UK), by Rabbi Miriam Berger after a profound personal experience at the Mayyim Hayyim Mikveh in Boston, Massachusetts. The project aims to build a Centre for Wellbeing in Barnet, North London which will include immersion pools for the ritual of mikveh (fully body immersion), rooms for talking and complementary therapies and groups.
The centre will be a welcoming, inclusive and non-judgmental space for people of all genders from all faiths (of all denominations) and people of non-religious beliefs. It will actively promote resilience building, taking a preventative as well as a therapeutic approach to good mental health allowing Jewish rituals such as immersion to be part of wellbeing and recover