The first time I saw a mikveh I had no idea what it was. My college roommate took me to a small building behind her synagogue that looked like a dilapidated storage unit. We entered a dimly lit area where a small, green-tiled pool dominated the shabby room. It was hardly appealing, and I was shocked when she told me that Jewish women immersed themselves in it before they got married.
My mother told me that the rain waters that fill it are like the mystical waters of Eden, she told me as we left.
A decade later I read the Ritual Bath, a mystery by Faye Kellerman. I was intrigued by her descriptions of Orthodox women who went after dark to bathe in the sacred waters. But not for a single moment did I imagine that I would do the same.
Several years later I made a life-altering decision: I decided to leave my law practice and pursue my passion for Jewish learning. I wanted to do something special, something spiritually significant, to elevate my choice into something more than just a career change. Thats when it hit me. I would begin my journey into Jewish learning by preparing myself in a very Jewish way: I would study the texts about mikveh and I would go.
To this day, that first step stands out as one of the highlights in my quest to find ways to live a meaningful Jewish life.
Traditionally, mikveh was a thoroughly private practice, one that Jewish women didnt talk about in mixed company. But along with other traditional Jewish rituals today, there is renewed interest in mikveh observance as modern Jewish women discuss, explore and participate in the mikveh experience.
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