The mikvah, or ritual bath, is one  of the most important cornerstones of the Jewish religion.  It is a “living water,” often collected rainwater.  Most Jews see the synagogue as the central institution in Jewish life, but Jewish law states that constructing a mikvah takes precedence even over building a house of worship. Both a synagogue and a Torah scroll, Judaism’s most venerated treasure, may be sold to raise funds for the building of a mikvah. In fact, in the eyes of Jewish law, a group of Jewish families living together do not attain the status of a community if they do not have a communal mikvah (http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikvah.htm)

Immersing in the mikvah, as part of the Laws of Family Purity,  is one of three classical women’s mitzvot. (The other two are lighting the Shabbat candles and separating some dough from the challah, Mitzvah #37).  This mitzvah for women is directly tied to the body cycle.  Traditionally, from the onset of menstruation and for seven days after its end, until the woman immerses in the mikvah, husband and wife may not engage in sexual relations. Immersion takes place after nightfall of the seventh day and is preceded by a requisite cleansing.  The woman bathes, shampoos, combs her hair and removes from her body anything that might impede her total immersion.  The immersion is valid only when the waters of the mikvah envelop each and every part of the body and, indeed, each hair, and there is a “mikvah lady” present to make sure that each of the three dunks is “kosher.”

Today, there are many reasons for visiting a mikvah besides the purification after menstruation.  Entering the mikvah is often seen as a spiritual separation, changing from one spiritual state to another.  People who are being converted dunk, women dunk before they get married or even after a divorce or illness, people dunk before major life milestones such as a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or a 50th birthday (!), and even silverware can be dunked to make it kosher.

I went to the mikvah as part of my preparation for turning 50.  For me, it’s a spiritual practice, connecting me to my foremothers before me and my daughters and granddaugters who will come after me.  It’s one of only three mitzvot that are ascribed to women, and thought I don’t follow the Laws of Family Purity, I respect their origins in the Torah.  And as a bonus, my mitzvah lady was one of my closest friends, and that made it even more special.