June 11, 2006
Suzanne Goldberg drives to Boca Raton from her home west of Boynton Beach each month to use a mikvah, or ritual bath.
Goldberg's three-year commute to Boca Raton Synagogue will be over soon. A $400,000 mikvah is expected to be ready by the end of this month at her synagogue, Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach, at 10655 El Clair Ranch Road.
"The Jewish community in Boynton Beach has been steadily growing over the last decade," said Goldberg, 31. "In recent years, we have seen a large influx of young families. Having our own mikvah will not only serve the needs of all these new families, but it will help to sustain our growth as a community."
The mikvah will be open to local and visiting Jewish women. "Hundreds upon hundreds of women, women who consider it a need in their spiritual life and women out of curiosity" will use it, said Rabbi Sholom Ciment, Chabad's leader.
The mikvah will feature "every amenity known to a woman in the most exquisite spa," he said.
The mikvah is used by mostly Orthodox married women after their menstrual cycle, before their wedding day and on occasion for conversions, Ciment said.
"When a woman descends into the mikvah, she is not allowed to be with her husband. But when she ascends, she is a revived, new woman. After a hiatus of 12 days of not being intimate [with her husband], she rejoins him," Ciment said about the monthly ritual.
The perception of mikvahs has changed over the years, partly because of the ability to build ones with amenities and luxuries, Ciment said.
"Back in the oppression, they had cellars and holes in the kitchen floor they dipped for the ritual once a month," Ciment said. "There are hundreds, if not thousands of stories of women who used to break ice in communist Russia; they literally risked their life. We've come a long way."
The Chabad also will have a dish mikvah used to sanctify dishes and utensils before eating, Ciment said. The dish mikvah will be ready the same time as the women's mikvah and will be the first drive-through mikvah that he is aware of.
Boca Raton Synagogue also has a dish mikvah, he said.
"Traditionally, when a Jew buys a new dish, specifically glass or chinaware, anything one eats from, anything used for cooking or eating, we sanctify it before we use it," Ciment said about kosher dietary laws.
The new mikvah will be named "Mei Menachem" for the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, Ciment said.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Suzanne Goldberg drives to Boca Raton from her home west of Boynton Beach each month to use a mikvah, or ritual bath.
Goldberg's three-year commute to Boca Raton Synagogue will be over soon. A $400,000 mikvah is expected to be ready by the end of this month at her synagogue, Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach, at 10655 El Clair Ranch Road.
"The Jewish community in Boynton Beach has been steadily growing over the last decade," said Goldberg, 31. "In recent years, we have seen a large influx of young families. Having our own mikvah will not only serve the needs of all these new families, but it will help to sustain our growth as a community."
The mikvah will be open to local and visiting Jewish women. "Hundreds upon hundreds of women, women who consider it a need in their spiritual life and women out of curiosity" will use it, said Rabbi Sholom Ciment, Chabad's leader.
The mikvah will feature "every amenity known to a woman in the most exquisite spa," he said.
The mikvah is used by mostly Orthodox married women after their menstrual cycle, before their wedding day and on occasion for conversions, Ciment said.
"When a woman descends into the mikvah, she is not allowed to be with her husband. But when she ascends, she is a revived, new woman. After a hiatus of 12 days of not being intimate [with her husband], she rejoins him," Ciment said about the monthly ritual.
The perception of mikvahs has changed over the years, partly because of the ability to build ones with amenities and luxuries, Ciment said.
"Back in the oppression, they had cellars and holes in the kitchen floor they dipped for the ritual once a month," Ciment said. "There are hundreds, if not thousands of stories of women who used to break ice in communist Russia; they literally risked their life. We've come a long way."
The Chabad also will have a dish mikvah used to sanctify dishes and utensils before eating, Ciment said. The dish mikvah will be ready the same time as the women's mikvah and will be the first drive-through mikvah that he is aware of.
Boca Raton Synagogue also has a dish mikvah, he said.
"Traditionally, when a Jew buys a new dish, specifically glass or chinaware, anything one eats from, anything used for cooking or eating, we sanctify it before we use it," Ciment said about kosher dietary laws.
The new mikvah will be named "Mei Menachem" for the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, Ciment said.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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