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Mikvah, the Ritual Bath Education and Programming jly icEdid xywd YourYour Jewish Jewish (Internet) Connection Connection! Brought to you by the Lifelong Learning Committee – Written by Linda S Trapasso Mikvah, The Ritual Bath For more than 3,500 years, obser- ing of potential Join the SNHJMC and TBA vant Jews have been making trips life that comes Sisterhood when they tour to a ritual bath called the mikvah. with each men- Mayyim Hayyim in January. Their immersion is a purification strual cycle. It’s Look elsewhere in the Bulletin and many experience tremendous also commonly for details and sign up! positivity from it in terms of their used for conver- marriage, their sense of self, and their sions to Juda- connection to G-d (Jew in the City). ism. However, For details on all kinds of mik- According to NHPR, the mikvah is the mikvah also vah topics, go to Mikvah Facts or having a resurgence and being used is being used today as a kind of spiri- Chabad. To learn about how one for more than the mitzvah of taharot tual therapy – for everything from uses a mikvah, see My Jewish Learn- hamishpacha (family purity). getting over a miscarriage, to com- ing. For some history, visit the Jewish The newest mikvah in the greater pleting a round of chemotherapy, Women’s Archive Encyclopedia and Boston area is Mayyim Hayyim, to finishing a doctoral degree, or the Jewish Virtual Library. which looks more like a spa than a after breaking up with a boyfriend. One interesting item is that if you traditional mikvah. In ancient times, You can view these videos to learn are in Israel, you can have a personal the mikvah was most commonly more: mikvah in your home (Hidabroot)! used by women – and men – for Just imagine that! ritual cleansing after coming in What is a Mikvah? An introduc- contact with death and for taharaot tion to the Jewish Ritual Bath on hamishpacha. Today, traditional im- YouTube mersion usually is explained as a spir- Mikvah: Splish Splash Is It a Jewish itual purification, to mark the pass- Bath? on Jew in the City Women of the Wall Presentation By Linda S Trapasso, TBA Sisterhood has lasted 30 years, and it is not The effort of If you did not go to the Women of finished. This organization is striv- these women the Wall event on December 4, you ing to change the status quo and to should inspire missed something wonderful. The expand civil rights, human rights, and empower all event was co-sponsored by several and religious freedom in Israel. women around organizations and held at Congrega- Women of the Wall is involved in the world of any Jewish denomina- tion Shalom in Chelmsford, MA. establishing a pluralistic, egalitar- tion to find their spiritual voices and The speaker, Lesley Sachs, Executive ian, and equal prayer space at the create meaningful Jewish identities. Director of Women of the Wall, was Western Wall, and looks forward For more information, visit www. engaging and passionate. The video to religious pluralism in Israel. It womenofthewall.org.il to sign up she played highlights the struggles has taken three years to obtain an for their newsletter, to read the women have to pray with tallitot, agreement for this type of space, history of women praying at the tefillin, and Torah scrolls at the but who knows when it will come Western Wall, to join them live over Western Wall. into existence? the Internet for Rosh Chodesh, and The fight to pray as they wish at the to support their efforts. Western Wall, which is Orthodox, 12.
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