Organizations  /  Mikvah

Overview

A mikvah (מִקְוֶה ‎Hebrew for “gathering” [of water]), is a ritual pool of clear water, that is used in order to follow practices related to the states of taharah (ritual purity) and tumah (ritual impurity). After immersion in a mikvah following specific rules of observances, a person becomes ritually clean. There are a number of ways a person may be considered “ritually unclean” including by contact with the dead, certain illnesses, and by childbirth or menstruation. Separate from ritual status, uses of the mikvah include the marking of lifecycle or religious calendar and festivals events.

For women, immersion in the mikveh occurs prior to marriage, after menstruation and following the birth of a child. Some men practice immersion in a mikvah on the eve of the Sabbath and festivals, especially on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). There are separate mikveh for men and women. Immersion in a mikveh is also obligatory for converts to Judaism. With a separate design, another use of a mikvah is for the immersion of new kelim, “vessels” (utensils, pots and pans and dishes).

Towards the end of the twentieth century, mikveh immersion practices revived in more liberal streams of Judaism. Mikvaot were used in traditional ways and in newly reimagined forms through rituals to mark a new beginning or to mark a change in life for both women and men. Ceremonies marking miscarriage, infertility, and illness, or healing from divorce have been some of the examples of the new ways in which mikvaot ( מקווה‎ pl. mikvah) are used.

A mikvah is generally the first Jewish institution to be constructed in a traditional Jewish community, however, historically in many new communities it was the cemetery that was first established out of necessity, so that Jews could be buried according to Jewish practices. According to Jewish law, before a Jewish community erects a synagogue or school, a mikvah should be constructed. This is a considerable undertaking, because both a school or a synagogue have much greater latitude of design with only a few essential elements for a synagogue (and no regulations for a school). In both cases, neither a synagogue in the form of a congregation, nor a school, need a specific building, as both can meet in homes of rented facilities. A mikvah, can only serve as a mikvah, and is built to very stringent specifications relating to biblical and Talmudic precepts. It must be composed of stationary, not flowing, waters and must contain a certain percentage of water derived from natural sources. Mikvaot often use rain water as their source of natural water. Size and design also have exacting specifications that must be followed for the mikvah to be acceptable under halacha (Jewish law).