Peeling a Pomegranate

I must share this article with you all. I often read MSNBC news on my Palm Pilot while riding the trains home from work. This article had me captivated the whole way home.

In Search of the Spiritual
By Jerry Adler
Newsweek
Move over, politics. Americans are looking for personal, ecstatic experiences of God, and, according to our poll, they don’t much care what the neighbors are doing.

Reprinted with Permission from Original Article

The mikvah, or ritual bath, has been a part of Orthodox Jewish life for centuries. Archeological remains of ancient mikvaot (plural form) have been found in Israel and elsewhere, attesting to the antiquity of this practice.

Unlike the more rugged ritual bath of yesteryear, today’s mikvah resembles a small swimming pool, and the water is kept at a comfortable temperature. Often, a mikvah building (particularly in urban areas) will be outfitted with showers, bathtubs, hairdryers, and sometimes even full spas. Contrary to popular belief, the mikvah isn’t intended as a bathtub or as a substitute for bathing, but has a myriad of uses, all related to restoring ritual and spiritual purity.

Today, the mikvah is used by individuals as the final step of conversion to Judaism, and by men on special occasions such as prior to Shabbat or high holy days. Orthodox individuals even dip their new dishes into the mikvah prior to use. The most popularly known uses of the mikvah, however, are by Orthodox Jewish women before their weddings and after their periods end (with an additional 7 day waiting period added by the early rabbis). While the concepts of purity and impurity may be seen as distasteful or sexist by today’s women, who equate impurity (tumah) with being dirty, the term does not convey the same sense within the traditional Jewish community.

At least two hundred gallons of rain water must be used in a mikvah, the rest being municipal water treated with chlorine for sanitation purposes. If a mikvah isn’t available to an individual who wishes to immerse, a natural body of water such as a lake or ocean may be used. Since there are special regulations, a bathtub can’t be used according to Jewish law. In fact, prior to immersion, an individual is required to bathe carefully and be completely clean so that there is no barrier between the waters and the body. Outside the Orthodox community, however, there are a wide variety of mikvah practices that can be performed, including rituals such as specially designated baths, or being anointed or sprinkled with rain water or water from a natural source, among other options.

Traditionally speaking, a Jewish woman who has waited approximately 12 days from the beginning of her menstrual period (the length of the period plus 7 ‘clean’ days) prepares herself carefully before immersing. It’s then customary to say a prayer of hope for marital harmony and healthy children. At that point (and this is the Orthodox model), a female attendant affectionately known as a ‘mikvah lady’ watches as the woman, who is completely naked, immerses once. If there are any stray hairs or parts of the body protruding above the water’s surface, the woman must immerse again. At that point, she immerses twice more, and she may have the custom of saying more prayers, since this is considered to be a holy moment of connection with the Divine. Once she has immersed, the woman is allowed to have sex with her husband.

Now. What’s a Jewitch (or any Liberal Jewish person) to do? Do we pronounce the ritual antiquated due to the features that no longer appeal to moderns, and jettison it completely, or are there other options?

I would argue that since mikvah is an ancient practice with great symbolic significance (it was a precursor to baptism, for example) and connections to the element of water, perhaps there are ways to reabsorb the ritual into Liberal Jewish and JudeoPagan practice, for both men and women.

For example, in some cities, Liberal mikvaot have been constructed for purposes that go beyond those mandated by Jewish law, such as immersion on various life cycle events such as the bat mitzvah, divorce, menopause, or recovery from illness. This re-appropriation of ancient ritual connects individuals to the element of water and a kind of rebirth, or transformation. It’s not that Liberal Jews are not welcome in Orthodox mikvaot . . . they certainly are, provided that they are married. The issue becomes thornier for single women, who, except in specific circumstances, may not be permitted to use the mikvah.

As for the disjunction between non-Orthodox practices and their own, the attendants don’t need to know a person’s deeply-held belief system. From their points of view, if the commandment is being properly performed, that’s all they need to know. What with the expense of building a mikvah, however, this might well be among the only options open to many who want to make this ritual part of their practice.

Another possible option for those who live near a natural body of water that is safe to use (shark infested waters may not be a great idea; for more on this read the anthology, ‘Total Immersion,’ listed below) is to immerse there, accompanied by a trusted companion or lover who can supervise the immersion and ensure that it’s been done ‘properly,’ maintaining some aspects of the traditional Orthodox model while adapting it to individual needs.

And, it might be added, the ways in which the ritual of mikvah can be adapted are manifold. Let me count some of the ones that spring (pardon the pun) to mind:

* Before Shabbat and Jewish holidays
* In some modified form, after a woman’s period, if this resonates for her
* During pregnancy
* Before or during sabbats and esbats
* To commemorate life-cycle events
* As part of a ritual working
* To cleanse ritual tools

In these ways, perhaps we can create a second stream for mikvah, so that it is no longer considered a ‘sexist’ ritual practiced only by the Orthodox, and so that we as JudeoPagans (and/or Liberal Jews) might find a way to avoid throwing this ancient and meaningful ritual out with the mikvah water.

Let me know what you think, and what other uses you envision for mikvah.

Thanks very much to the members of the Jewitchery mailing list for offering me helpful suggestions as I fine-tune this article.

Reading list:

Kaplan, Aryeh. Waters of Eden: The Mystery of the Mikvah. New York: NCSY/Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, 1976.

Lamm, Maurice. The Jewish Way in Love and Marriage. Middle Village, NY; Jonathan David Publishers, 1980.

Slonim, Rivkah. Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1996.

Links:

http://www.jtsa.edu/about/communications/pubs/bestof/dip.shtml
Dipping Into Tradition: The Mikvah Makes a Comeback

http://www.hollyrossi.com/Newspaper%20HTML%20files/MayyimHayyim.htm
Finding ‘Something for Everyone’ in the Mikvah

http://www.jewishjournal.com/old/covermikvah.1.21.0.htm
More women — and men — are finding personal and spiritual satisfaction in the mikvah’s mysterious depths

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0