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Thoughts to Nosh OnApril 2007From the Desk of Rabbi SharffJudaism contains an ever-evolving set of traditions and customs. One of the more ancient and yet modern traditions is that of the mikveh. We find the first mention of mikveh in the Tanaach. "Only a spring, cistern, or collection (mikveh) of waters shall be cleansing" (Lev. 11:36). In this particular passage, mikveh has to do with the issue of when a person becomes ritually impure by coming into contact with unclean animals or foodstuffs. In order to become ritually pure again, the Israelites were to use water from this mikveh in order to purify themselves. An Israelite could become ritually impure for a variety of reasons. Whether it was because of childbirth, menstruation, coming into contact with the dead, or coming into contact with certain bodily fluids, the ritual immersion of a person in a body of water would serve as the means for their return to ritual purity. Ritual purity in the Biblical context had to do with certain worship and communal rites. Some recent theories argue that mikveh was more about hygiene than ritual, which is an argument that sometimes also made about Kashrut. However, the mikveh was always designed as a way to help the Israelites to achieve a level of holiness, when certain everyday acts, might distance them from God. Since the destruction of the However, the mikveh is most commonly associated with niddah (family purity) since a wife, traditionally speaking, goes to the mikveh after her menstrual period before engaging in conjugal relations with her spouse. Because of this, the mikveh is most often associated with women in the Jewish community. That being said, in a more modern context, the mikveh serves as a means for Jews, and those becoming Jews, to wipe their slate clean before beginning in a new endeavor such as conversion or marriage. The mikveh to us moderns is no longer about niddah, it can serve us as a physical transformative element in our own lives, for any number of changes we might be going through. There are numerous halachic requirements with regards
to the construction and maintenance of a mikveh.
These include the sources and quantity of water, the materials used
to make the mikveh, and even the
mode of construction. The result
of all of this is that sometimes a mikveh
can be a bit difficult to find in any given community. Fortunately
for us, here in If you wish to use it or find out more about it, please contact either Rabbi Cohon or me. It would be our pleasure to help you use and understand an ancient practice that can transform our lives with modern meaning. Rabbi Ben Sharff |
