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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 PAGE 42 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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). PAGE 43 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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. PAGE 44 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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 PAGE 45 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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. PAGE 46 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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 PAGE 47 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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.” PAGE 48 JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE ABC’S OF JUDAISM 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. PAGE 49