New Ritual Bath Makes Jewish Tradition Accessible to Backcountry Lifestyle

Believed to be the first of its kind anywhere in that part of the American West, a newly-built Jewish ritual bath in Montana is serving Jewish residents from Wyoming, Idaho, North and South Dakota, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

And for a Jewish community numbering 2,500 people and stretched across the fourth-largest U.S. state, the new Mei Menachem Mikvah – established by Chabad-Lubavitch of Montana co-directors Rabbi Chaim and Chavie Bruk – has transformed locals’ learning about the Torah’s laws of family purity from abstract exercise to practical application.

“Before the mikvah was built, it was almost impossible to educate anyone about the Jewish laws of family purity because the nearest ritual bath was a seven-hour drive away in Salt Lake City, Utah,” said Chavie Bruk, who holds regular classes for women on the subject. “This is a milestone to Jewish life in Montana and is totally beyond our expectations.”

Essentially a pool of water connected to a reservoir of rainwater or snow melt, a mikvah is a fixture of most established Jewish communities. A necessary component of the laws governing Jewish family life, the ritual baths are traditionally visited by married women on a monthly basis to acquire ritual purity. An increasing number of men have also taken up a custom, followed mainly by Chasidim, of immersing themselves in a mikvah prior to morning prayer services.

The one in Bozeman – which, like all mikvahs, conforms to dimensions laid out in the Code of Jewish Law – took two years to build. It is named after the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, who stressed the importance of studying and following Judaism’s family laws. Rabbi Gershon Grossbaum, a leading mikvah authority based in S. Paul, Minn., supervised the construction.

The new building is located in the backyard of the Chabad House, where the Bruks run Torah classes, a synagogue, Hebrew school, and provide Shabbat and holiday meals. Inside the mikvah facility is one ritual pool adjoining an elaborate bathroom, complete with a custom vanity, Jacuzzi bathtub, chandeliers and Venetian mosaic tiles, which Chavie Bruk designed with the help of the Montana Tile and Stone Company.

“It is stunningly beautiful,” said Holly Lifson, a 49-year-old financial professional. “It’s really an oasis. They did a fantastic job with the layout and the beauty of the mikvah. It’s really sparkling.”

Article continued at Chabad.org