The JTA reports -- a mikveh in Montana of all places, can you imagine? Kosher Jewish marriage is impossible without one. Chabad is sniped at a lot in Jewish life, quite unfairly. Yet who else would accomplish such a thing? No one.
First mikveh in Montana opens
May 7, 2009
(JTA) -- The state of Montana has its first mikveh.
The newly built ritual bath is serving Jewish residents from Wyoming, Idaho, North and South Dakota, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, in addition to the 2,500-strong Jewish population of Montana, according to Chabad.org.
The mikveh, in the backyard of the Chabad House in Bozeman, took two years to build. One ritual pool adjoins an elaborate bathroom with a custom vanity, Jacuzzi tub, chandeliers and Venetian mosaic tiles.
"This is a milestone to Jewish life in Montana and is totally beyond our expectations," said Chavie Bruk, co-director with her husband of Chabad-Lubavitch of Montana.
Showing posts with label Mikva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikva. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
A new mitzvah in the kitchen
For Metrowest residents, dish-washing is becoming a more spiritual experience.
“The Dish Mikvah,” which opened last month, is the most recent installation of the Mei Menachem Western Well’s community mikveh, a state-of-the-art Natick facility aimed to serve roughly 40,000 Jewish individuals living west of Boston.
Rabbi Levi Fogelman and his wife, Chanie, the leadership at the Chabad Center of Natick, spearheaded the initiative with the intent to revitalize the “mitzvah of the mikveh,” as well as to address the importance of making dishes and other utensils kosher for household use.
“The goal of our Chabad, in general, is we look to promote mitzvot that need more attention,” Fogelman said. “People were unaware and didn’t know [what a dish mikveh was]. It’s a mitzvah that is not very well known, but yet it’s a mitzvah that was given to us in the Torah over 3,300 years ago.”
Featuring a counter-high surface for easy dipping, “The Dish Mikvah” is filled with a body of original rainwater that falls directly into the vessel. When an individual buys new dishes or eating utensils, Jewish law states that some of these items have to be immersed in the mikveh to become sanctified.
The Fogelmans told the Advocate that a breakfast and formal dedication for “The Dish Mikvah” is expected to be held on Oct. 14. An educational program about how to use the facility is being planned for after the holidays.
“We want to make this a very positive experience,” said Chanie, who noted that more than 20 people have already come to toivel – ritually immerse – their eating utensils.
Long awaited by the Jewish community, “The Dish Mikvah” was originally constructed approximately three years ago, but was unable to open until now because of a leak. The facility is housed in the same building as a women’s mikveh, educational resource center, preparation room, and men’s mikveh, which is currently under repair.
The completion of “The Dish Mikvah” was made possible through a generous donation by a Natick family who are members of the Chabad Center of Natick. According to Fogelman, the construction of the Mei Menachem Western Well, which was supported financially by countless donors in the community, cost more than half a million dollars.
David Joel, who made the generous donation to “The Dish Mikvah” in memory of his mother, Rose W. Joel, said he was honored to help finish up the project. Visiting the facility from time to time to toivel his eating utensils, David added that it’s a fitting way to remember his mother.
Said David: “It’s a nice thing to know that her memory will be there.”
For more information about “The Dish Mikvah,” call (508) 650-1499 or visit www.westernwell.org.
“The Dish Mikvah,” which opened last month, is the most recent installation of the Mei Menachem Western Well’s community mikveh, a state-of-the-art Natick facility aimed to serve roughly 40,000 Jewish individuals living west of Boston.
Rabbi Levi Fogelman and his wife, Chanie, the leadership at the Chabad Center of Natick, spearheaded the initiative with the intent to revitalize the “mitzvah of the mikveh,” as well as to address the importance of making dishes and other utensils kosher for household use.
“The goal of our Chabad, in general, is we look to promote mitzvot that need more attention,” Fogelman said. “People were unaware and didn’t know [what a dish mikveh was]. It’s a mitzvah that is not very well known, but yet it’s a mitzvah that was given to us in the Torah over 3,300 years ago.”
Featuring a counter-high surface for easy dipping, “The Dish Mikvah” is filled with a body of original rainwater that falls directly into the vessel. When an individual buys new dishes or eating utensils, Jewish law states that some of these items have to be immersed in the mikveh to become sanctified.
The Fogelmans told the Advocate that a breakfast and formal dedication for “The Dish Mikvah” is expected to be held on Oct. 14. An educational program about how to use the facility is being planned for after the holidays.
“We want to make this a very positive experience,” said Chanie, who noted that more than 20 people have already come to toivel – ritually immerse – their eating utensils.
Long awaited by the Jewish community, “The Dish Mikvah” was originally constructed approximately three years ago, but was unable to open until now because of a leak. The facility is housed in the same building as a women’s mikveh, educational resource center, preparation room, and men’s mikveh, which is currently under repair.
The completion of “The Dish Mikvah” was made possible through a generous donation by a Natick family who are members of the Chabad Center of Natick. According to Fogelman, the construction of the Mei Menachem Western Well, which was supported financially by countless donors in the community, cost more than half a million dollars.
David Joel, who made the generous donation to “The Dish Mikvah” in memory of his mother, Rose W. Joel, said he was honored to help finish up the project. Visiting the facility from time to time to toivel his eating utensils, David added that it’s a fitting way to remember his mother.
Said David: “It’s a nice thing to know that her memory will be there.”
For more information about “The Dish Mikvah,” call (508) 650-1499 or visit www.westernwell.org.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Canberra to get first mikvah
The small Jewish community in the Australian capital of Canberra is building a mikvah.
Aharon Serebryanski, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi from Melbourne, has pledged to fund Canberra’s first Jewish ritual bath. Approximately 600 Jews live in Canberra, whose lay-led community has no rabbi or kosher butcher. Orthodox and liberal Jews share prayer facilities at a Jewish center.
The motion in favor of building the ritual bath was passed Monday by a 61-14 vote at a general meeting of the community at Canberra’s National Jewish Memorial Center.
"The majority of younger women are very excited at the prospect," Anita Shroot, one of the leaders of the mikvah project, told the Australian Jewish News. "I think a mikvah is a starting point. I honestly feel that once we've achieved that, we will manage to get an educator, hopefully a rabbi and the community will thrive, and that is why we have pursued this so strongly."
Aharon Serebryanski, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi from Melbourne, has pledged to fund Canberra’s first Jewish ritual bath. Approximately 600 Jews live in Canberra, whose lay-led community has no rabbi or kosher butcher. Orthodox and liberal Jews share prayer facilities at a Jewish center.
The motion in favor of building the ritual bath was passed Monday by a 61-14 vote at a general meeting of the community at Canberra’s National Jewish Memorial Center.
"The majority of younger women are very excited at the prospect," Anita Shroot, one of the leaders of the mikvah project, told the Australian Jewish News. "I think a mikvah is a starting point. I honestly feel that once we've achieved that, we will manage to get an educator, hopefully a rabbi and the community will thrive, and that is why we have pursued this so strongly."
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Ritual bath to be adapted for disabled
A Hallandale Beach synangogue plans to open a 'mikvah' accessible to women with physical disabilities. It will be the first of its kind in Florida.
jmooney@MiamiHerald.com
jmooney@MiamiHerald.com
For years, Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus has wanted to bring an ancient Jewish cleansing tradition to his Hallandale Beach synagogue.
Now, his dream is coming true.
Plans to build three mikvahs -- or ritual baths -- at Chabad of South Broward are in the pipeline.
But one of the baths, which are used by some married Orthdox Jewish women after each menstrual period, is a little different from most.
It will be one of only a few mikvahs worldwide equipped with a hydraulic lift for use by women with physical disabilities, said Rivkah Slonim, a New York-based bestselling author of Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology.
''Every mikvah is extremely important -- the single most important institution a Jewish community needs to have access to,'' she said. ``Since Miami has such a huge Jewish population, I can only imagine what a tremendous asset this will be.''
Other synagogues in Broward and Miami-Dade are equipped with mikvahs, including ones in Hollywood, Aventura, Weston and Miami Beach.
No existing mikvahs in Florida are handicapped-accessible, Tennenhaus said.
Under Orthodox Jewish law and tradition, the baths are primarily used by married women after the end of their menstrual cycle.
Some men also choose to take part in the ritual -- some every day, others once a year before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Tennenhaus said.
For a woman to take part in the tradition, she must be clean. No makeup, nail polish or perfume is allowed. Teeth must be flossed and brushed, and her hair must be down in its natural state, Tennenhaus said.
The women enter a back room of the synagogue and undress in a private dressing room.
An attendant is present during the spiritual cleansing, which takes place in a small pool filled with about 200 gallons of tap water and rain water.
During the short ritual, the woman enters the mikvah nude, says a blessing and then completely submerges the body under the water.
But doing so is often difficult for women with physical disabilities because they need assistance from someone, which makes the intimate moment much less private, Tennenhaus said.
''Mikvahs are a very symbolic part of Jewish history,'' Tennenhaus said. ``There are a lot of women who have some sort of paralysis who want to take part in the tradition but can't.''
''We're meeting a need that is out there,'' he said.
Hallandale Beach zoning officials have given preliminary approval for the addition of the mikvahs -- one with the hydraulic lift for women, one for men and a smaller one for new dishes -- at the Chabad center.
A room now used as a dining hall will be converted into the spa-like mikvah facility, which will include marble and granite tile and private dressing rooms.
Hollywood architect Joseph Kaller hopes work on the $500,000 project will start within the next few months and be complete by year's end.
Margie Szerer, a member of the Chabad of South Broward, is looking forward to the opening of the mikvahs.
Once a month for the past five years, Szerer has traveled from her home in Hollywood to Aventura to take part in the ancient tradition.
Having a new, luxurious facility so close to home will be nice, she says.
''It's a beautiful thing that makes a woman feel like she is in control of her body,'' Szerer said.
``I think it's wonderful that they are giving the opportunity to other women who would normally be unable to go because they are in a wheelchair.''
Monday, February 05, 2007
Ritual bath opens at Chabad of Boynton Beach
By Joel Hood
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 5, 2007
Boynton Beach� Miles from the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the Super Bowl, a spiritual ritual of a different sort was renewed Sunday at the Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton.
Dozens of men and women, some in their teens, many more in their 70s and 80s, walked single file through a steel-rimed arch and into a private sanctuary steeped in thousands of years of tradition. The Chabad of Boynton Beach opened its long-awaited mikvah, or cleansing bath, with celebration and reflection Sunday, a watershed event illustrating the growth and prominence of the city's Jewish community, which tops 50,000. The day also underscored the resurgent popularity of the 3,000-year-old custom for younger Jewish women who might not strictly adhere to other Jewish holidays and rituals.
"It's not just about cleansing; it's a celebration of feminism," said Suzanne Goldberg, of Lake Worth. "It connects you to Jewish women throughout history."
While some men use mikvahs to prepare for the High Holy Days, the ritual bath is primarily used by women who cleanse themselves after menstruation. Women remove all their clothing, jewelry and makeup and immerse themselves completely in a pool that contains both tap water and rainwater. The ritual begins at nightfall on the seventh day after the completion of the menstrual cycle, thus allowing women to resume sexual relations with their husbands.
The purpose of the mikvah is both spiritual and physical renewal, said Rabbi Sholom Ciment of the Boynton Chabad. But many modern mikvahs, like the $500,000 one unveiled in Boynton, resemble day spas with ornate fixtures and polished tile. The Boynton mikvah has several hand-painted murals and sparkling granite floors. That's no accident, Ciment said, as synagogues try to connect with busy women juggling families and careers.
"It's meant for relaxation and reflection," said Boynton Beach resident Jaelle Kellman. "It's a blessing that hopefully will inspire a lot of younger women to be a part of it."
Since ancient times, the mikvah has served at the center of the Jewish faith and, often, literally at the center of the Jewish community. Before the recent revival, attendance in mikvahs had declined as lives got busier and the notion of a cleansing bath after menstruation was seen as outdated. The Boynton mikvah is the third in Palm Beach County, joining those Boca Raton and North Palm Beach, Ciment said.
"The immersion is the literal embrace of God," Ciment said. "It's the total embodiment of the thinking Jew's quest to find meaning."
Joel Hood can be reached at jhood@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 5, 2007
Boynton Beach� Miles from the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the Super Bowl, a spiritual ritual of a different sort was renewed Sunday at the Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton.
Dozens of men and women, some in their teens, many more in their 70s and 80s, walked single file through a steel-rimed arch and into a private sanctuary steeped in thousands of years of tradition. The Chabad of Boynton Beach opened its long-awaited mikvah, or cleansing bath, with celebration and reflection Sunday, a watershed event illustrating the growth and prominence of the city's Jewish community, which tops 50,000. The day also underscored the resurgent popularity of the 3,000-year-old custom for younger Jewish women who might not strictly adhere to other Jewish holidays and rituals.
"It's not just about cleansing; it's a celebration of feminism," said Suzanne Goldberg, of Lake Worth. "It connects you to Jewish women throughout history."
While some men use mikvahs to prepare for the High Holy Days, the ritual bath is primarily used by women who cleanse themselves after menstruation. Women remove all their clothing, jewelry and makeup and immerse themselves completely in a pool that contains both tap water and rainwater. The ritual begins at nightfall on the seventh day after the completion of the menstrual cycle, thus allowing women to resume sexual relations with their husbands.
The purpose of the mikvah is both spiritual and physical renewal, said Rabbi Sholom Ciment of the Boynton Chabad. But many modern mikvahs, like the $500,000 one unveiled in Boynton, resemble day spas with ornate fixtures and polished tile. The Boynton mikvah has several hand-painted murals and sparkling granite floors. That's no accident, Ciment said, as synagogues try to connect with busy women juggling families and careers.
"It's meant for relaxation and reflection," said Boynton Beach resident Jaelle Kellman. "It's a blessing that hopefully will inspire a lot of younger women to be a part of it."
Since ancient times, the mikvah has served at the center of the Jewish faith and, often, literally at the center of the Jewish community. Before the recent revival, attendance in mikvahs had declined as lives got busier and the notion of a cleansing bath after menstruation was seen as outdated. The Boynton mikvah is the third in Palm Beach County, joining those Boca Raton and North Palm Beach, Ciment said.
"The immersion is the literal embrace of God," Ciment said. "It's the total embodiment of the thinking Jew's quest to find meaning."
Joel Hood can be reached at jhood@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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