Download Lesson 7: Mikvah and Marriage

JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE
ABC’S OF JUDAISM
Lesson 7:
Mikvah and Marriage
INTRODUCTION
The title of this course is “ABC’s of Judaism – Fundamentals of Jewish
Thought and Practice.” The incredible limitation of only eight classes
in which to present a glimpse into all of Judaism compels a selection
of only the most crucial, the most elemental, the most essential and
the most basic; truly the fundamentals.
It may therefore come to some students as a surprise – perhaps even a
shock – that an entire lesson is being devoted to the observance and
significance of the mitzvah of mikvah in married life. “Torah-study,
prayer, charity, Yom Kippur, circumcision, etc. These I always knew
were cardinal elements of Judaism. But mikvah?! Isn’t is just an old
custom?!” This lesson will attempt to open minds to the luminous
truth: that mikvah in Jewish practice is (to borrow from Maimonides)
the fundamental of all fundamentals!
Pool of a medieval mikvah in Speyer,
dating back to 1128.
Mikveh built by the Zealots
during their stay at Masada (circa 70 CE).
Mikvah Mei Menachem, Ormond Beach, Florida
Mikvah Mei Menachem, Boulder, Colarado
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Leviticus (Vayikra) 18:19
READING 1
Do not come close to a woman who is ritually impure because of
menstruation, since this is a sexual offense.
Leviticus (Vayikra) 20:18
READING 2
If a man has intercourse with a woman who is ritually impure from
her menstruation, he has committed a sexual offense with her. He has
womb, and she has revealed the source of her blood…
Leviticus (Vayikra) 15:19
READING 3
‫ָמי ִ ְהיֶה‬
ִ ‫ ָ יִ ְהיֶה ז ָֹב ִ ְב ָ ָר ִ ְב ַעת י‬,‫ָבה‬
ָ ‫וְ ִא ָה ִי ִת ְהיֶה ז‬
...‫ְבנִ ָ ָת‬
And if a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh be
blood, she shall be in impure for seven days…
Leviticus (Vayikra) 15:28
READING 4
.‫'חר ִ ְט ָהר‬
ַ ְ‫ ו‬,‫ָמי‬
ִ ‫ ִ ְב ַעת י‬#ָ ‫"!ב וְ ָס ְפ ָרה‬
ָ ‫ ִמ‬,‫וְ ִא ָט ֲה ָרה‬
But if she be cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself
seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
READING 5 Maimonides (Rambam), Laws of Forbidden Relations 11:15
‫ ַעד ֶ ִ ְטֹל ְ ֵמי‬,‫ידי ֶע ְרוָה‬
ֵ ‫י!צ*ה ִמ‬
ְ ְ‫*ת ו‬
ָ ‫ ְמ‬-, ‫ע!לה ִמ‬
ָ ‫ ָה ִא ָה‬/‫ֵאי‬
. ִ‫י‬3ָ ‫ ַה‬/‫בי‬4
ֵ ,‫ ְ ָ ָר‬/‫ ֵי‬2‫ח!צ‬
ֵ ‫ִמ ְקוֶה ָ ֵר; וְ לֹא יִ ְהיֶה ָ ָבר‬
A woman is not elevated from her state of impurity… until she
immerses herself in a kosher Mikvah, and nothing shall act as a
separation between her flesh and the waters.
Maimonides (Rambam), Laws of Mikvah 1:2
READING 6
‫ אב לכל‬/‫ בניי‬:(‫לב‬,‫יא‬
‫)ויקרא‬
"‫ וטהר‬,‫"במי יובא וטמא עד הערב‬
.‫ שיבואו במי‬,‫הטמאי‬
“It shall be immersed in water, but will remain unclean until evening,
and it will become clean” (Leviticus 11:32): This is the foundation for all
laws of impurity, they must immerse in water.
READING 7
The Brachah (Blessing) at Immersion:
‫ ַעל‬4‫נ‬4ָ ‫ וְ ִצ‬,‫ ְ ִמ ְצ! ָתיו‬4‫ ֲא ֶר ִק ְ ָנ‬,‫ ֶמ ֶל; ָהע! ָל‬4‫; ֲא ָה יי ֱאלֹ ֵהינ‬4‫ָר‬
:‫ילה‬
ָ ‫ַה ְט ִב‬
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who has
sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us
concerning immersion (in a mikvah).
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READING 8
Dr Susan Handelman, Tumah and Taharah: Mystical Insights
A Whisper of Death
Two of the most widely misunderstood concepts in the Torah is
contained in the words tumah and taharah. Translated as "unclean" and
"clean," or "impure" and "pure," tumah and taharah, and by extension
the laws of Niddah and Family Purity – often evoke a negative
response. Why, it is asked, must a woman be stigmatized as tameh,
"impure"? Why should she be made to feel inferior about the natural
processes of her body?
It might be said that, at bottom, these objections arise from a
fundamental misunderstanding. Tumah and taharah are, above all,
spiritual and not physical concepts.
The laws of Tumah, Niddah, and Mikvah belong to the category of
commandments in the Torah known as chukkim – Divine "decrees," for
which no reason is given. They are not logically comprehensible, like
the laws against robbery or murder, or those In essence, tumah,
"spiritual impurity," is definable as the "absence of holiness"
commandments that serve as memorials to events in our national past
such as Passover and Sukkot. The laws of tumah and taharah are suprarational, "above" reason. And it is precisely because they are of such
high spiritual level, beyond what intellect can comprehend, that they
affect an elevated part of the soul, a part of the soul that transcends
reason entirely.
But even if the human mind can't understand these Divine decrees
logically, we can nevertheless try to understand them spiritually and
search for their inner meaning and significance. In this endeavor, the
teachings of Chassidic philosophy are of invaluable aid, for the study
of Chassidut reveals the inner aspect of Torah, its "soul," and can
guide us through realms where unaided human intellect cannot reach.
Chassidism strives for the direct perception of G-dliness underlying
everything, and illuminates the spiritual sources of all physical
phenomena.
Chassidic teaching explains that, in essence, tumah, "spiritual
impurity," is definable as the "absence of holiness." Holiness is called
"life," "vitality"; it is that which is united with and emanates from the
source of all life, the Creator. Chasidic philosophy further elucidates
that true union with G-d, true holiness, means that one's own
independent existence is in a state of bittul, "nullification" to G-d. On
the other hand, that which is distant or separated from its source is
called "death" and "impurity." According to Torah law, death is the
principal cause of all tumah; the highest magnitude of tumah comes
from contact with a dead body.
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READING 9
Rivkah Slonim, Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology
In the beginning there was only water. A miraculous compound, it
is the primary source and vivifying factor of all sustenance and, by
extension, all life as we know it. But Judaism teaches it is more. For
these very same attributes -- water as source and sustaining energy -are mirrored in the spiritual. Water has the power to purify: to restore
and replenish life to our essential, spiritual selves.
The mikvah personifies both the womb and the grave; the portals to
life and afterlife. In both, the person is stripped of all power and
prowess. In both there is a mode of total reliance, complete abdication
of control. Immersion in the mikvah can be understood as a symbolic
act of self-abnegation, the conscious suspension of the self as an
autonomous force. In so doing, the immersing Jew signals a desire to
achieve oneness with the source of all life, to return to a primeval
unity with G-d. Immersion indicates the abandonment of one form of
existence to embrace one infinitely higher. In keeping with this theme,
immersion in the mikvah is described not only in terms of purification,
revitalization, and rejuvenation but also – and perhaps primarily – as
rebirth.
READING 10
Dr Abraham Twersky
There is hardly anyone these days who has not reacted to the
attitudinal changes toward sexuality that have taken place in recent
years, perhaps because sexuality had been thought of only in
physiological terms. Some of the most liberal advocates of sexual nonrestraint have begun to publicly acknowledge, "Perhaps we have gone
too far." One need not be a prudish arch-conservative to be revoked
by the hawking of flesh on all newsstands and the degradation of a
human experience not to a subhuman, but to a sub-animal level.
Lower forms of life, at least, do not have the human ingenuity to
create perversions, and are guided by their innate instincts, whereas
some humans appear to be guided by nothing at all. An aspect of
human behavior of enormous emotional potential has been openly
desecrated in store-front pornography and street corner parlors of
perversion. Not only are legislatures entertaining bills for legalization
of prostitution, but it has also come to pass that one of the
requirements of licenses under the proposed legislation is that they be
"women of good character." Selling oneself in the market place has no
longer become incompatible with noble character. The latter is but an
indicator of the consequences of sexuality being considered as purely
physiological.
The concept of the mikvah ritual is a most vital one. Mikvah immersion
is prescribed in Torah law as a purification in preparation for events
of great spiritual significance. It is a ritual of sanctification for
participation in something sacred. In Torah practice, mikvah was a
requisite procedure for the High Priest before entering the Sanctuary.
The ritual of mikvah as a precursor to sexual relationships following
the completion of the menstrual period, carries with it a meaning that
cannot be conveyed in hundreds of sermons or reams of philosophical
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writings. It indicates that there is to be a preparation for an act which,
far from being profane, is beyond being mundane and must be
considered sacred. It places the necessary emphasis on the value of
the human sexual experience as a meaningful relationship of closeness
and intimacy between husband and wife, rather than as an act of
mutual masturbation, to which it is relegated when seen only as a
physiological act. Mikvah is the antithesis of the current desecration of
human sexuality.
READING 11
The Rebbe (16 Tammuz 5735)
It is the great mission and duty of Jewish women to see to it that all
daughters of our people should observe Taharat Hamishpacha – laws of
family purity, because…
…it is the foundation of sanctity in family life,
…it influences the health of the Neshama (soul) as well as the health of
the body,
…it affects the spiritual purity of our children,
…and above all, it has had, and continues to have, an effect through
all generations of our people for the eternity of Judaism. Family Purity
is forever. Children are born; they grow up, establish their own home
(called an everlasting edifice), then their children have children and so
ad infinitum. The description of marriage as a banyan adei ad – an
everlasting edifice, acquires a new depth of meaning in light of the
Chassidic teaching, that man’s G-d-given infinite procreative capacity
is a manifestation in this physical world of the Ein Sof, G-d’s infinity.
READING 12
Rivkah Slonim, Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology
The man-woman relationship thrives on a model of withdrawal and
return. The Torah teaches that Adam and Eve in their original form
were created as an androgynous being. Subsequently, G-d separated
them, thus granting them independence on the one hand and the
possibility for a chosen union on the other. Men and women have
been pulling apart and coming together ever since. The mikvah system
grants the married couple this necessary dynamic. Within their
commitment to live together and be loyal to each other forever, within
their monogamy and security, there is still this spring like mechanism
at work…
For many women, their time as a niddah also offers them a measure of
solitude and introspection. There is, additionally, an empowering
feeling of autonomy over their bodies and, indeed, over the sexual
relationship they share with their spouses. There is strength and
comfort in the knowledge that human beings can neither have their
every whim nor be had at whim.
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READING 13
Rivkah Slonim, Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology
For as long as a woman menstruates, her monthly cycle dictates the
rhythm of conjugal relations within the marriage, and each month it is
a mitzvah for husband and wife to draw renewal from the waters
of the mikvah. For those who have not made a lifelong commitment
at the onset of married life, it is never too late to begin following the
laws of Family Purity. Similarly, while observance should ideally be
continuous, one should not allow a lapse of any length to deter further
commitment. Nor is this practice contingent on the observance of
other precepts in the Torah. Mikvah is not, as is often thought, the
exclusive domain of the strictly observant.
Even if they are not ready for adherence to these laws at all
times, women and their husbands should give particular
consideration to this mitzvah before the conception of their children.
Mikvah, we are taught, is the conduit for drawing down an exalted
soul vested in a receptive and healthy body.
For the postmenopausal woman, one final immersion in the mikvah
offers purity for the rest of her life. Even a woman who has never
used the mikvah before should make a special effort to immerse after
menopause (it is never too late for a woman to do this even if many
years have elapsed since her menopause), thus allowing for all
subsequent intimacies to be divinely blessed.
The single greatest gift granted by G-d to humankind is teshuvah – the
possibility of return-to start anew and wash away the past. Teshuvah
allows man to rise above the limitations imposed by time and makes it
possible to affect our life retroactively. A single immersion in the
mikvah late in life may appear insignificant to some, a quick and puny
act. Yet coupled with dedication and awe, it is a monumental feat; it
brings purity and its regenerative power not only to the present and
future but even to one's past.
READING 14
S.Z. Sonnenfeld, “Under the Kitchen Table”
Before the Communist Revolution, Kiev had hundreds of synagogues
and dozens of mikvahs to serve its huge Jewish population. In my
time, nothing had survived except the shul in Shakovitzkaya Street,
near our house, and a few small shtieblach (informal prayer houses).
As for Mikvahs, since they weren’t needed to show to tourists, Stalin
had them all closed down. In Kiev, however, Tatteh (father) wasn’t
about to let the Communists get away with it. Since our apartment
was in the basement, we dug a hole under the table, big enough to be
a kosher Mikvah. We lined it with waterproof cement and made a
cement lid for it, and it was ready to be filled… All we had to do was
fill sacks with snow and dump them in, and once it had melted, we
had a perfectly kosher Mikvah. Of course, it was still ice cold, but we
found a way to lower a samovar (urn) loaded with glowing coals down
into the pool. At any rate it took the chill off.
Sometimes a women would travel hundreds of miles by train just to
use our Mikvah, and that would have to be the day that the samovar
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was out of order. You wouldn’t think that anyone would be eager to
stand in ice-cold water over their head in the middle of the Russian
winter, but these women did. Mamme (mother) used to say of them,
“if a women immerses herself in the ice, her children will never be
burned in the fire of Gehinom (purgatory).”
The mikvah’s lid was heavy and had to be pulled up with an iron ring.
Mamme always gave this mitzvah to the women who had come to use
the mikvah. As she bent down to grab the ring, Mamme would deliver
this little speech – from the bottom of her heart, as always with her:
“Jewish daughter, this iron ring is actually a link of the golden
chain that binds you and me to our holy Mothers – Sarah, Rivkah,
Rachel and Leah – and all the pious women in every generation.
Remember! A chain is only as strong as every link in it. If, G-d
forbid, this link should snap, then the whole chain is ruined, from
start to finish. So grasp it tightly, this link of yours, and be proud
that you are upholding the golden chain of holiness four thousand
years unbroken.”
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SUMMARY
1.
Immersion in a mikvah is a biblically mandated precept for the
married woman following the end of her menstrual period.
No mitzvah has more power, impact, benefit or importance;
yet no other mitzvah has been so trivialized, distorted and
misunderstood.
2.
A mikvah-pool must be specially constructed
exact Torah-legal specifications.
3.
Modern-day mikvahs are crystal-clean, warm, comfortable –
often luxurious.
4.
Historically, mikvah immersion was a prerequisite for entry
into the sacred; its underlying concepts are: Purification.
Preparation for a higher, holy experience. Transformation.
Elevation.
5.
“Family Purity” is a G-d-given system mandating physical
separation and abstinence by husband and wife during a
certain part of the women’s monthly cycle, followed by
mikvah-immersion and resumption of the holy mitzvah of
marital conjugality.
6.
The concepts of spiritual “purity” (taharah) – relate to life and
its creation, and “impurity” (tumah) – relate to a “whisper of
death.” Suspension of self and life, followed by rebirth – via
mikvah.
7.
Spousal intimacy (the expression of human sexuality within
the consecrated covenant of marriage) is, contrary to the
teachings of other faiths, the holiest of all activities –
partnering with G-d in creation of life.
8.
“Dividends” of the mikvah lifestyle include spiritual purity of
children and enhancement and enrichment of the marriage
relationship.
according to
NEXT WEEK
Lesson 8: Brotherly Love and Tzedakah
See the divine in your human relations. Learn how to make friendship and
giving your priority.
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