Teharah through water immersion

The Mikvah waters throughout the ages have always been known for their mystical aura and awesome power. Those whispers of holiness, purity, and femininity echoed throughout the ages. The waters that women immersed and touched the divine even at great danger to their lives.

• What are your secrets??
• What gives you the power??
• Why have women fought like lionesses to experience your embrace?

So let's begin dear women. Let's begin our own journey into the meaning, the beauty, and awesome powers of the Mikvah waters and Tahara Process.

When Adam and Eve were in Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, they were closely connected to G-d. When Adam and Eve were banished from Gan Eden there were some sort of disconnect (although we are always connected but not the same way). G-d wanted them to be able to reconnect in a special way. So, He sent out a stream of water from the Garden of Eden. This stream of water sourced all the waters in the world. And so, when we immerse in the waters of Eden we can once again connect to the source of life, to the Divine and invite G-d back into our lives and back into our homes.

This is why a mikvah has two pools of water. One is the pool a woman immerses in and the other is a pool of water that has a collection of rain or spring water that flows naturally in. The waters are connected by a pipe.

This way when one immerses herself in the water, she is immersed in those waters of Eden and touches the Divine once again.

The Mikvah is compared to a mother’s womb. The Mikvah waters being the embryonic waters. Just like in the mother’s womb the baby feels completely encompassed by the mother’s love. Nurtured by its mother, cared for, embraced, every want and need taken care of. So too, as the women allows the water to wash over her, she feels every worry, every concern, every burden on her shoulders wash off her. And she thinks, just as a baby in its mother’s womb knows in totality my mother will take care of everything, so too I know G-d will take care of everything for me. And as she lets the waters encompass her, she should feel completely encompassed by G-ds love - nurtured, embraced, hugged, and cared for, and every want and need taken care of. And as she emerges from the “womb” she feels once again born anew.

One of the fascinating aspects of the Mikvah can be understood with a puzzling question. We know, when a ger (convert) finishes his/her giyur (conversion process) before he/she becomes a Jew, he/she must immerse in the Mikvah waters. The conversion process is usually an extremely long and arduous process. Yet, when the potential convert is finished this process, he is not a Jew until he does one last thing- immerse in the mikvah. This begs a question. What is it about the waters that after that whole process that can potentially take years didn’t do that immersion can do? Is this some heebie jeebie – or sprinkle with waters kind of thing?

The answer lies in a verse in the beginning of the Torah in Bereishis “Genesis”, It says that the world was “tohu va’vohu”– nothingness, before G-d created the world. Our Rabbis ask, what is nothingness? And they explain that the nothingness was water. And so, when a person goes under the water, they are as if making themselves null and void. And when they come out, they emerge a completely new being. Therefore, when the potential convert goes under the water, he makes his previous life and being null and void and emerges a newly created being, a Jew.

Each time a woman immerses in the water, she too, nullifies herself, and emerges a new being. Receiving a gift every time to renew her relationships – with G-d, with her spouse, and with her family.

There is so much more to the understanding, the beauty, and the awesome power of the mikvah. I hope that what we have touched upon has opened your eyes and heart to experience its magic.