Mikvah: Living Waters

"Mommy has to go to the ladies' club. She will only be there a little bit. We have to wait here because we are not ladies." Even at three, I shared his trait of quick-thinking and responded, "You are not a lady, but I am! You call me your 'little lady' all the time!" He smiled and laughed at both my wit and my innocence...

I reasoned that our ancestors fought long and hard (in fact, we – the descendents – are still fighting) to be able to perform this deep and spiritual ritual, so why shouldn't I at least give it a try?

Everything you wanted to know about Mikvah but didn't know to ask

The most important institution of Jewish life, next to the home, is the mikveh and its cycle of union and separation between husband and wife. Because precious things only stay beautiful when you follow the manufacturer's instructions...

My tears mixed with the waters of the Mikvah, enveloping me in a warmth and love I had never experienced before. I knew I had come to the right place, at the right time, for myself, my family, and for G-d.

We immerse in the mikvah when moving into a new spiritual state; the mikvah experience engenders within our very essence the ability to reveal to ourselves and the world our full potential

We cannot logically understand the Divine laws of Niddah and Family Purity, but we can try to understand them spiritually

I stood in my fluffy terry robe and toss-away slippers, waiting. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, "What's a nice Reform girl doing in a place like this?"

Truth be told, I wasn't convinced. I couldn't relate to abstinence, I didn't understand the association of menstruation and impurity. I approached the experience like an anthropologist...

In biblical times, entrance to a holy space was contingent on spiritual purity. Today, it is in sacred union alone that this law is enforced. Until the Holy Temple is rebuilt, it is in our bedrooms that we build the most hallowed of all hallowed shrines

I did not have a monthly cycle, would never experience what I had been hearing about – the excitement, anticipation and spiritual renewal that other women had the opportunity to have. What, I asked myself, was the point?

I keep promising to try to focus on some of the benefits of this particularly feminine growth experience of menopause. And I’m not succeeding. So, I do what I always do when I go through a lifecycle moment...

My parents had treated us to this dream vacation in Aruba. We had everything – but a mikvah. My husband was incredulous – no, astonished – when I told him that I would turn the Caribbean into a mikvah...

The year is the same, the days are the same, but the months are different. It is a time quite individual -- created by G-d, especially for me...