Yonah and the Mikveh Fish:
a childrens book
by Haviva Ner-David
Coming out in February

Meet Yonah, a quirky kid obsessed with fish, who is about to start kindergarten.
a childrens book
by Haviva Ner-David
Coming out in February
Meet Yonah, a quirky kid obsessed with fish, who is about to start kindergarten.
It is also available as an eBook on Apple Books and Kobo
Meet Yonah, a quirky kid obsessed with fish, who is about to start kindergarten. The day before school starts, Yonah’s parents take her to the mikveh, a ritual immersion pool, to mark her transition from preschool to kindergarten. When her brother, who also went to the mikveh when he was starting kindergarten, tells her she’ll love the fish at the mikveh, she is excited to go. But when she goes into the pool to dunk, she can’t find the fish. Was her brother just teasing? Read Yonah and the Mikveh Fish to find out!.
Yonah and the Mikveh Fish was born from the desire of Rabbi Haviva Ner-David and Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker, both involved in the open mikveh movement, to introduce the ritual of full body mikveh immersion to children and their families. Mikveh is an experiential and meaningful option for people of all ages to mark transitions, significant occasions, and life cycle events.
Over the past twenty years, there has been a mikveh renaissance in the progressive Jewish world. Open community mikvaot (plural of mikveh) — where people can immerse how and when they choose – are popping up around the globe. By following lovable Yonah as she prepares for kindergarten at the mikveh, we hope children and adults will begin to imagine going to the mikveh themselves.
Bedazzled Ink: Conversation between Orna Taub and Haviva Ner-David
Awards: Hope Valley is a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Best Book of the Year 2021 Awards!
Recording of a book talk the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute
Review of Hope Valley in Reading Jewish Fiction
Book Club: Jewish Women’s Archive
Review – Hope Valley in Reading Jewish Fiction
Book Talk – Hadassah-Brandeis Institute
Awards: Hope Valley was chosen for the Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) Bookshelf
Book Talk Recording: Hadassah Baltimore Lunch and Learn
Book Review: Telling Stories of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Book Review: Elizabeth Palmer, editor at the Christian Century Magazine
Book review: The New Hampshire Jewish Reporter
Book talk with the Women’s League of Conservative Judaism
Torah Commands Both Love and Vengeance. In Israel, We Face that Contradiction Every Day.
Literary Modiin April Author Event
Looking for Hope: A writer finds inspiration in Jewish-Palestinian friendship, especially now
The Gathering: A Nun, a Rabbi and Hope Valley (Book Talk)
Hope Valley: A Novel Approach to Israeli and Palestinian Women’s Lives
Hope is a much-needed, often used, and often little understood concept.
Tablet Mag – Rabbi Haviva Ner-David joins us to talk about the partnership between head and heart
A Book Talk with Haviva Ner-David & Amy Gottlieb
Memoirist turns to fiction with tale of Arab, Jewish women’s unlikely friendship
Review from the Neshamah Center
Writing from Another’s Point of View
Book Event at the American Jewish University
Interview on the FSHD Society Radio Show
Tikkun magazine – Israeli Dirt Becomes Hope Valley
Haviva Ner-David is a writer and rabbi. In 2006 she became the first woman to publicly receive Orthodox rabbinic ordination, only to leave Orthodoxy and call herself a post-denominational rabbi. Ten years later, she received interfaith ordination from the One Spirit Interfaith-Interspiritual Seminary and now goes by post-denominational inter-spiritual rabbi.
She writes both fiction and non-fiction and is the author of three spiritual journey memoirs, a novel, short stories, essays, a blog on Times of Israel, scholarly articles and a guidebook for engaged couples. Her short story, “Blame,” won the 2016 Lilith Magazine short fiction contest.
Link to short story.
Photo credit: Carmel Avivi
Chanah’s Voice:
A Rabbi Wrestles with Gender, Commandment, and the Women’s Rituals of Baking, Bathing and Brightening
Getting (and Staying) Married Jewishly:
Preparing for your Life Together with Ancient and Modern Wisdom