| | Mikvah the TraditionalTraditional use of mikvah includes: - family purity/taharat hamispacha (monthly and after giving birth),
- immersing cooking/dining vessels,
- Before your wedding
- for some before Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana, Passover
- for some Chasidic men before Shabbat every week
- Conversion,
- and becoming more common "returning" to Judaism - adults connecting with a Jewish heritage that was kept hidden from them
Books- Total Immersion: A mikvah Anthology edited by Rivkah Slonim - great book of women's stories and experiences with using the mikvah (Orthodox)
- The Secret of Jewish Femininity By Tehilla Abramov - This book is unique in that it is written for women by a woman, with their practical needs in mind. The laws of family purity are interwoven with philosophical insights (Orthodox)
- Waters of Eden by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan It has been called the secret of the Jewish survival - a mystical connection to the Garden of Eden. What is the Mikvah's fundamental connection to birth, marriage, conversion and death? How does a Mikvah purify? How can a proper understanding of Mikvah bring happiness, freshness and fulfillment to your life? "Waters of Eden" is a revealing book that explodes old myths and prejudices and offers insights never before available to the English reading public.
Links- http://mikvah.org/
- The Mikvah Project is a touring exhibit of photographs and interviews documenting the resurgence of the Jewish rite of immersion in a ritual bath. The ritual of immersion has been observed continuously for over three thousand years. Mikvah immersion as a religious obligation has long been held as sacred that some have risked imprisonment or death to maintain the practice.
Mikvah DirectoriesMikvah Non-TraditionalNon-traditional uses of mikvah includes healing rituals: - Affirmation of Jewish identity
- Before conceiving a baby
- During the month of Elul
- Before Sukkot or Shavuot
- Rosh Chodesh (the first day(s)) of a Jewish month
- Before becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah
- Before Rabbinic Ordination
- Before traveling to Israel
- Birthday
- Start of menopause
- After loss, such as the death of a loved one
- After Miscarriage
- After Rape and/or other violation
- After severe illness
- During divorce & After receiving get/divorce decree
- During recovery from an addiction
- Yahrzeit
- Loss of a relationship
- Beginning new job or a journey
- Anniversary of conversion
- Infertility
- During pregnancy
- Before Shabbat
BooksLinks- Ritualwell provides resources for creating innovative, contemporary Jewish rituals. Our hope is that this site will connect Jews to a living Judaism and empower us all to mark important times in our lives with ritual.
Unusual Mikvaot- Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh & Education Center is a place for the renewal of Jewish personal spirituality in Greater Boston. A place for learning, for transformation, for healing, and for marking life's many milestones, Mayyim Hayyim pours the ancient waters of mikveh - the ritual bath - into a beautiful 21st century vessel where all Jews are welcome.
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