A Once Derided Jewish Ritual Now In High Vogue
BROOKLYN, NY — Back in the 1970s, women’s mikvah was something you might have heard about in hushed whispers, and then only among observant women. A private matter cloaked in discretion, if your mother didn’t teach you about it, chances are, you didn’t know anything about it. At best, you might have had some vague notions about some obsolete tradition that harked back to menstrual taboos and had more to do with personal hygiene than with anything spiritual.
Bronya Shaffer, a Chabad lecturer on women’s issues, spirituality and relationships, remembers when she was invited to a Jewish women’s group in the early 1970s. It was on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In the course of conversation, she mentioned the word mikvah.
“It was as if I had uttered a dirty word,” she says, recalling the response.
Two or three years later, Shaffer went to that same women’s group, where mikvah came up again. “There was a lot of hostility and anger towards the whole concept of women using mikvah, but at least,” she says, “they were talking.”
Then, sometime in the 1980s, Mrs. Shaffer received an invite to the same group, only with a radically changed attitude. The event was billed: “The Ultimate Feminist Experience: Mikvah.”
The remarkable shift would continue to gain momentum, making mikvah one of the more popular observances among Jewish women today. Not only religious women. In Melbourne, Australia, there’s a mikvah that caters specifically to secular Jewish women. In recent years, art exhibits touring prestigious museums in the U.S. have explored the theme of the mikvah water’s spiritual healing power. Books on the subject abound, and in a culture of women’s spirituality, the mikvah itself has surfaced from a dank pit in the concrete, to an elaborately illuminated ritual claimed by Jewish women across the board.
According to historian Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, German and Eastern European immigrants initially built and used mikvahs in the nineteenth and early 20th centuries in the U.S. But by the 1920s, the next generation for the most part neglected the tradition, and mikvahs fell into disuse. With no formal Jewish education, girls did not know the basic laws of mikvah and marriage, and had no appreciation of their importance to Jewish life. Mikvahs were perceived as grimy (many were) and frightfully old-fashioned. By the 1960s there were fewer than 200 mikvahs in operation in the U.S. and probably less than that number in the rest of the world.
curious
where is this mikvah pictured in the article?
annoy
very nice article, very nice mikvah crown heights mikvah should only look as nice
upset
why cant crown heights have a nice mikvah like this!??!?!?!
its shameful….
why shouldnt frum women have such a nice place to go to? just because we dont need to be ‘convinced and encouraged’ to go means we have to go to such a dingy mikvah??
maybe those that spend money on making beautiful new mikvaos for men, should consider the state of their wives mikva!??!
the first thing to build in a city must be a mikva…shouldnt money go to enhancing the mikva we have!?!?
What about in CH
I view these pictures and am awed by the beautiful feeling one can experience while visiting such a mikvah . However, I have to say that I am disappointed that in CH we have only one womens Mikvah that is not even in the same league.
Are we so sure that the Mivtzha of Taharas Mishpacha is not necessary within our own community. Why can’t people get together and built a Mikvah in CH that the women living in our community can look forward to visiting.
Af Al Pi Shelo Chatah Yisroel Hu
Very Nice.
Why Does the Crown Heights Mikvah fit the description of “grimy and frightfully old-fashioned” especially after the rebbe Scream so much about it and even was going (or did) sell 770 to raise money for it.
beautifull
Now this is what a mikveh should look like. NOT like the pathetic crown heights one.
123
gorgeous mikvah!
Orthodox Jew
The Rebbe sold 770 because the Mikva was in disrepair and the Rebbe Rashab once slapped the Mikva attendant because he found a strand of hair floating in the Mikva in Lubavitch.
What must we do, to whom, for the disgusting situation of the Crown Heights Mikva?
Is anybody in charge?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody know to which Mikva the women of Crown Heights go? The numbers don’t add up…
Rabbonim?
Mivtza Taharas Hamishpacha?
Religious members of Crown heights?
MOSHIACH NOW!
cares
for all those complaining about the crown heights mikvah:
get together and do it, you will be very surprised how many people would help if they were given the chance. the men and women of our community need to get together and do it, you cant wait until someone stops going to mikvah because its so bad!
Remembering
I vividly remember what the original Crown Heights Mikvah looked like before a group of dedicated women took the bull by the horn and raised the needed funds and enlarged and renovated it. This was in the early 1980’s. It is close to thirty years ago. Sure it again needs renovations. It is used on a nightly basis and gets much wear and tear. Instead of bring critical, let the next generation rise up and get the job done, just as the previous generation had done.
CHer
I specifically avoid the crown heights mikvah, because of the condition that its in. someone really needs to bring back new life into it.
FRUSTRATED?!
Its been said above but needs to be said again and again- why cant crown heights Mikvah look like this??? Why are ther so many crown heihghts women being driven to other non- lubavitch mikvahs just because ours is so decrepid? Surely it should be a priority in CH to redo the womens mikvah?
been there dipped here
I am sick of people bashing the Crown Heights Mikvah – I agree that these other mikvahs are beautiful – but they are brand new – will you cough up the money that our mikvah so desperatly needs for a renovation? Before you go a bad mouth our mikvah – think a little – if those mikvah had our kind of nightly traffic – 30 -40 women a night, they would not look so beautiful after a year – also – do you know how much those other mikvah cost – $25 – $35 a dip – so be careful what you say about our mikvah
Crown heigths resident
There is a large group of women who were very involved in trying to build a new mikvah here, but we need a huge building for this, and a couple million dollars to build the 20 necesary bathrooms. Can any group of young women fundraise for such a huge project? I don’t think so. We need the formal institutions to take it upon themselves. But again, politics……..
redoing the mikvah!
Yes what about the CH mikvah??? it is really in a horibble conditions! The mikvah does not have to bee as fancy as the one pictured- although it would be nice!! but this mikvah is 30 year old – used by hundereds and hundereds… it needs some sort of renovations to make it a little more beautiful so that woman feel the specialness of the mitzvah… Im sure it would make everyone a lot happier going to the mikvah if it was remodled! It doesnt have to be fancy but s/t decent!!
curious
so does anyone know where this mikva is
someone out there...
instead of complaining about the mikvah, do something!! dont rely on anyone else, do it your self!! im an out of towner, but i would do it if i lived in ch…..