B’Daren Payne / His Mickvah day / Temple Israel / West Bloomfield / Michigan / February 15, 2013
Before the Mickvah, I was nervous. I was about to marry an entire nation of people and a God I had been reintroduced to. All in all, it was heavy. God was there, most definitely. I could feel his presence deep within in the recess of my soul. I went under the first time and I heard just the rushing of the water against my ear drums and breath leave my body. That first silence, to me, was me hearing g-d listen. I’d come up, say the blessing and go back down, and God and I would continue our wordless conversation. I thought when I was under, ” This is what it feels like to be in your mothers womb, warm and safe.” I was in God womb, so’s to speak. I thought about floating through space, my family, my life - everyone and everything. I came up the last time, said the last blessing, went under and stayed under as long as I could- God and I finished our wordless conversation, I came up and out a brand new man. I felt charged, and warm, like I had just been in the presence of the burning bush.
B’Daren Payne is a member of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.
He is a film maker living in Detroit. in Eastern Market area.
