Musings of A Mikvah Attendant
A volunteer mikvah attendant shares her thoughts and feelings of awe and fulfillment in this holy role
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A Match Made In Heaven
Sivan was in her ninth month of pregnancy. She wanted to perform a custom to immerse in a mikvah during the ninth month in preparation for her upcoming birth. She had also heard of a segulah (a good omen) for someone trying to conceive, to immerse in the mikvah after this, as a special merit for them.
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Faith, Family, and Miracles: Inspiring Mikvah Stories from a Shlucha in Moscow
The Following Stories are reprinted with permission from BR Embrace, a magazine connecting Beth Rivkah alumni globally.
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The Waters of Growth
I'm sitting in the Mikvah waiting room. For the first time in almost a year and a half. Perhaps the longest amount of time I've gone between Mikvah visits since I was married almost a decade ago. Let's blame it or give thanks to - depending on how you look at it - on babies, nursing, hormones.
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Mikvah on TSha BAv
What to do when Mikvah falls out on T'Sha B'Av
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Caressed by the Mikvahs Waters Month After Month
As a nervous bride-to-be with my mother by my side, as is often the custom the very first time, I felt like Iâd gained entry into a secret society the first time I attended the mikvah.
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Instructions and Tips for a Yom Tov Tevillah
Instructions and Tips for Mikvah preparation and immersion on Yom Tov
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The Power of Mikvah
What is as holy as Yom Kippur, as powerful as prayer and the secret of a spiritually dynamic marriage? You may not believe it, but the answer is The Mikvah. The traditional Jewish observance guiding the intimate relationship between husband and wife.
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Timed Mikvah Preparation Checklist
Reprinted, with permission, from The Taharas Hamishpacha Workbook by Rabbi David Kaufman,this checklist can be used by women having trouble estimating the amount of time they should use to prepare for Mikvah immersion. This list was approved by Rabbi Sholom Ber Chaikin, a Rav who deals especially with the laws of family purity. The timing allocations are suggestions, not Halacha, and are meant for usual circumstances. Get ready for the beautiful zechus (merit) of this mitzvah, as you prepare in a spirit of joy. This covers the Chafifah part of the preparations.
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How To Ask A Shaila
Some inportant guidelines to asking a shaala (halachic question) correctly. Learn how to develop a relationship with a Rav to ensure a personalized response. Understand how to ask the question with attention to clarity and detail. Adapted from a presentaion given by Rabbi Yosef Braun and Rabbi Tuvia Kasimov
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Living Waters Experiencing Mikvah
One woman's thoughts and feelings on mikvah and all it represents
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Five Things I Learned About Being A Woman From The Mikvah
The brilliance of Taharas Hamishpachah becomes evident to human eyes
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Confessions of A Mikvah Goer
I was about to say No to mikvah...but it occurred to me that as a travel journalist, I seek out, and frequently attend ceremonies from other cultures. Why not try my own?
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The Bodeket Part VI
Part VI in a series of articles explaining the role of the Bodeket in keeping the complex laws of Taharas Hamishpacha
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MIracle Baby
A Jewish couple who gave up hope on having a child rolled into Chabad of Nepal. What happened next will deeply move you.
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The Bodeket Part V
Part V in a series of articles explaining the role of the bodeket in keeping the complex laws of Taharas Hamishpacha
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Mikvah Stories
Some inspiring true stories about mikvah.
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The Bodeket Part IV
Part IV in a series of articles explaining the role of the bodeket in keeping the complex laws of Taharas Hamishpacha
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The Bodeket Part III
Part III in a series of articles explaining the role of the bodeket in keeping the complex laws of Taharas Hamishpacha
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The Mikvah Challenge
Can stress of life interfere with mikvah immersion...
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The Bodeket Part II
Part II in a series of articles explaining the role of the bodeket in keeping the complex laws of Taharas Hamishpacha
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The Bodeket Part I
Part I in a series of articles explaining the role of the bodeket in keeping the complex laws of Taharas Hamishpacha.
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Double Blessings
Sometimes, we are lucky enough to see revealed blessings right before our eyes!
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Mikvah On Time
Immersing in the mikvah on schedule can sometimes be challenging in our hectic lives.
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The Miracle Mikvah
At 16 Whalepond Road, right next door to Shaare Tefilah (the Eatontown Shul), is where youll find the brand new Jherin Esther Gorcey Mikveh. The story of its construction is one of heartfelt prayers, bitter tears, and incredible miracles.
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Intimacy and Commitment
Immersion in the Mikvah represents a bond with the source of all existence, God. A woman who immerses so that her entire body is covered by the waters of the mikvah is relating totally, with her entire being, to God.
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Mikvah During War
I live in an area that has exactly one minute to get to safety when the sirens start shrieking
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Its Not Just About A Bath
Taharas Hamishpacha was very important to her and one of the first things she did upon her arrival, in this strange new country, was to locate the nearest mikvah.
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Finding Comfort and Strength at The Mikvah
A post-menopause mikvah experience.
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Mikvah After Many Years
I vaguely knew about the Mikvah but it had always seemed to me something of another world.
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Mikvah at My Age?
After a lengthy courtship my partner and I decided to get married. Let me start at the beginning.
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Mikvah 101
So there I was engaged and very excited to marry my fiancé when I began to hear about all the things I needed to do to prepare for marriage.
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My Rosh Hashana Baby
Mikvah...Immersion...Sometimes the timing is not very convenient! What to do? To go on time or postpone? Hmmm...
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My Safe Waters
I went to the Mikvah for the first time 18 months ago as a bride...
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Mountain Mikvah
Mikvah is an exquisite art. Not only can the mikvah bring a person to the final step towards becoming a part of Klal Israel, following a lengthy process and the directives of the Beis Din of course, but it also allowed me to be reborn.
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Steady Hands
An elderly Jew with a large black Yarmulke once appeared at the Chabad counter in Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.
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To Eat To Pray and To Love
The Three Mitzvot of the Woman are special, holy and spiritual, transcending everyday life
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Purifying Waters
There is nothing more holy in this world, nothing more precious to the Creator, than the union of a man and a woman. It is, after all, the fountain of life. What could be more precious than life - other than the source from which life comes?
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The Power of Once
I was angry at God at that point in my life. Not only did it seem to me that He had held back the treasures of Judaism till I was forty, it seemed that I also would never get a chance to experience, together with my husband, the beautiful and intimate ritual of mikvah.
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Living With Breast Cancer: The Healing Power of Mikvah
One woman's uplifting experience with mikvah after breast cancer...
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Full Circle
The mikvah is a beautiful place, filled with spirituality. It represents the chain of generations of Jewish women of which we become another link.
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Why I Love The Mikvah
There are so many reasons to love the mikvah (Jewish ritual bath).
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Mikvah, The Art of Transition
Two complimentary reasons emerge when contemplating the various times we are instructed to go to the mikvah, the Jewish ritual bath.
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Never Too Late To Calculate
A friend of mine called me a little while back. She was married just over a year and mentioned that she had not yet been blessed with a pregnancy.
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A Word About Chafifa (Preparation for Mikvah Immersion)
Put joy into your mikvah preparations!
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Mikvah and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
For many women keeping the laws of mikvah is a terrifying, monumental task. They do not know how to control the compulsive behavior that leads them to obsess over their keeping of this sacred mitzvah.
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Mikvah A Fresh Start
Hope always implies change.It is for a change in the status quo that a person hopes. In particular, hope is sensed strongest when a person finds himself in a desperate situation; when he has hit rock-bottom.
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The Mikvah Lady Rules
The mikvah lady rules. For thousands of years, women like Janice Fellner have guided Jewish women through the monthly purification ritual God called for in the Book of Leviticus.
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A Marriage Saved
Years ago, the following story occurred: There was a young couple who had a very unhappy marriage, and they decided to divorce. The wife's Mother, who lived in Eretz Yisroel, was devastated by this decision...
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Miracle at Sea
I was in Bangkok, Thailand when, Ronit, my husband's cousin, told me her personal story. Before there was a mikvah in Bangkok, women would have to travel down to the seaside and tovel themselves in the sea.
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Jewish Legacy
I was delighted to read the article by Heidi Hass about her Mikvah experience with Bronya Shaffer.
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Dear Rebbe: I Have a Story To Tell You
My husband and I have been married for ten years, and six years ago we were blessed with a son. Within a year of our son's birth, cancer was discovered in my husband's kidneys and they had to be removed.
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The Beauty of Mikvah
Somehow, I managed to make it through 22 years of marriage before the notion of mikvah (ritual bath), was raised for me. Sure, I knew that married Jewish women went to the mikvah and observed the laws of Taharat Hamishpacha (Family Purity)...
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True Self- Sacrifice
In the town of Emmanuel in Eretz Yisroel (Israel), there lived an elderly couple, olim (immigrants) from Russia, who were childless. They lived there for several years, quietly and alone, without any real contact with other members of the community.
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A Wonderful Experience
I am not a very religious Jew but I knew I wanted to go to the mikvah before my marriage. I was a bit hesitant but I had some lessons with an incredibly warm and progressive rebbetzin so I was quite excited about it.
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Hashem Does His Part
In the many years that my wife and I have been involved in teaching the laws of Family Purity, we have observed many instances of Hashgacha Pratit , Divine Providence.
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Mikvah and Me
My husband and I had alot of issues committing to marriage. We had cancelled one wedding and no one could understand why we were still together.
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The Icy Mikvah
The Mikvah is the cornerstone of a vibrant Jewish home. It is within the natural waters of the Mikvah that a woman immerses herself monthly, from marriage till menopause, so that a husband and wife can live a full life of intimacy together.
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Comments From The Brides
"This was a very enlightening experience. It was a sacred moment for me that I will cherish. I fel like my blessings were truly heard tonight and for that I am thankful!..." Dara
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Sharing With Shayna
My daughter, Shayna G.K., was married in 1999. She desired to go the mikvah, for the first time, before her wedding.
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Valerie's Story
I didn't go to the mikvah every month. (Few people I know do.) I am content that I went to the mikvah the night before my wedding, no one can ever take that night away from me.
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This One Time
My name is Masha. I am 58 years old, and I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Experiencing Mikvah
So my beautiful Rebbetzin Channie said to me one day Rose, what are we doing special for your 70th birthday a mitzvah, something special?
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Symphony of Immersion
It has a sound all its own. I have never heard anything like it anywhere else.
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A Foundation of Love
The Jewish home is not just an accidental unit where a man, woman, and children live. It is a sacred unit, the quintessential core of Jewish existence, and the wellspring of Jewish values from which a child draws spiritual sustenance for a lifetime.
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Entering the Mikvah
It was as scary as anything I'd ever done, and I wasn't sure why. As a Reform Jew, my sense of being commanded by G-d does not come with a set of 613 unambiguous instructions...
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The Meaning of Mikvah
I am young, British born and part of a large Jewish family. I work in advertising and have as many non-Jewish friends as Jewish friends.
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Rationale Reasons Illuminating Jewish Law
Not infrequently we come across interpretations of Torah precepts in the light of rational thought and scientific discoveries. There has been a division of opinion since Talmudic times on whether one ought to seek to understand...
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The Purifying Waters
Is it true only oppressed Orthodox Jewish women use the mikveh? Surprisingly, the feminist stereotype just won't wash.
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Living Mikvah
There is nothing more holy in this world, nothing more precious to its Creator, than the union of a man and a woman. It is, after all, the fountain of life.
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Taharas Hamishpacha - Inner Meanings
The laws of Taharas Hamishpacha (Family Purity) are an integral part of our religious faith and stemming as they do from our Torah, are not always fully understood by our mortal minds.
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Impure Intentions
Attempts to present Jewish religious practices as cruel, harmful or downright evil, alas, are nothing new. Jewish ritual slaughter, circumcision and Shabbat have all, at one time or another, been publicly assailed.
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Misunderstanding Mikvah
A more absurd projection of Christian sexual asceticism onto Judaism would be hard to imagine. Think Again First, a confession: I am not a woman.
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A Fresh Look At The Mikvah
Once a month, after nightfall, my wife keeps a secret appointment. Neither our neighbors, our friends, nor our children know where she goes, although our children sometimes wonder why she returns an hour or so later with her hair wet.
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The Power of A Woman
America is over 200 years old and a lot has happened in the last 200 some odd years. Especially to the Jewish woman.
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A Feminist On Mikvah
Let's tackle the question of sexism first; do you sincerely feel that there is no sexism in Jewish life?
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Jewish Ritual Bath Makes A Comeback
It's a women's ritual as ancient as the Hebrew scriptures. But in modern times, the concept of visiting a ritual bath - or mikvah - has become as foreign to most Jews as it is to the rest of the population.
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Looking Back Moving Forward
Entering menopause: A time of transformation. A new phase of life begins. Invigoration. Inspiration.
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My Mikvah Journey
Mikvah-The word evokes a relaxing, spiritual, beautiful image in your mind, for some, it unfortunately evokes a negative, degrading image of how women are treated as dirty, impure, or unclean in Orthodox Judaism.
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The Mystique of Mikvah
Genetically, a woman inherits characteristics from her Mother, and she should be proud to do so. The very first Jewish Mother was Sarah Imeinu, and she bequeathed to us...
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Thank You Mr Brezhnev
In the 1980s, during the last years of the Brezhnev regime, the Chassidic underground in Russia had yielded a crop of young returnees to Jewish practice.
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At My Age
The following is a five part series of correspondence from a woman learning of Mikvah, after menopause, for the first time. Please enjoy this inspirational exchange and follow her journey of discovery.
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A Modern Setting for An Ancient Ritual
It was August of 1994 and I was leading a kosher tour in Scandinavia; it was summer but we could already feel the bite of fall.
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The Ritual Bath
Not too many modern Jews are fully acquainted with the many rules and regulations set forth in Halacha (Code of Jewish Law).
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Revelations of Rachel
With all of America reading books by the experts on topics ranging from "How to Keep a Happy Parakeet" to "Total, Unequaled...
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Taking the Spiritual Dive
I began my married life with a non-Jewish husband, an ambitious nature, a college degree, and a bit of an attitude.
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Love, Marriage and Mikvah
Before we discuss Jewish insights into the very private world of intimacy, we need to free ourselves of some non-Jewish notions about the topic.
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My Mikvah Baby
I am a Jew, but I am not religious. I light candles Friday night, but don't keep Shabbat. I don't eat pork, but I mix dairy and meat. I don't know the Hebrew prayers, but I speak to G d.
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On The Essence of Spiritual Impurity
One of the most widely misunderstood concepts in the Torah are contained in the words tumah and taharah. Translated as "unclean" and "clean," or "impure" and "pure,"
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Wellsprings
Judaism is very realistic in its understanding of human sexuality. It understands there is love between men and women that is unique and total, that reaches fulfillment in physical expression.
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Taking Monotony Out of Monogamy
What is as holy as Yom Kippur, more spiritual than meditating and the best thing you can do for your love life? You may not believe it, but the answer is THE MIKVAH - the ancient Jewish method guiding the intimate relationship between husband and wife.
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Beautiful Wedding, Holy Marriage
This Sunday is my third wedding anniversary. This Saturday night is the third anniversary of my first Mikvah immersion.
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