Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network is piloting a Jews of Color cohort of their 8-week program, Seven Steps Online Mikveh Guide Training. The course, led by and for Black, Indigenous, Jews of Color, Sephardi, Mizrahi, and multiracial Jews (BIJoCSM), launched with an opening session on February 12, 2023 with a cohort of 31 members.
The goal of this grant is for mikvah guides across the country to represent the full diversity of the Jewish community, elevating and investing in BIJoCSM mikveh guides as wisdom-holders and educators in the open mikveh environment. The online course is led by erica riddick in collaboration with JoCSM guest educators.
Mikvah is one of the oldest rituals in Judaism, and involves immersion in a pool connected to living water to mark transitions such as marriage, conversion, or spiritual preparedness. The Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network’s mission is to inspire, strengthen and support communities that embrace an open, inclusive and welcoming approach to ritual immersion. Rising Tide seeks to meet the spiritual needs of Jewish people across the full spectrum of the Jewish community, which includes seeing their identities represented by mikvah guides, and believes that diverse ritual facilitators can make mikvah accessible to Jews of all denominations, ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities.