Mikvah

Mikvah (or mikveh) (] - certain skin condition(s). These are termed "lepra" in the Septuagint, and therefore traditionally translated into English as "leprosy"; this is probably a translation error, as the Greek term "lepra" mostly refers to psoriasis, and the Greek term for "leprosy" was "elephas"/"elephantiasis".
*by anyone who came into contact with someone suffering from Zav/Zavah, or into contact with someone still in Niddah (normal menstruation), or who comes into contact with articles that have been used or sat upon by such persons [, , ] , in addition to having the ashes of the Red Heifer ritual sprinkled upon them
*after eating meat from an animal that died naturally [] .

In the Mishnah, following on from a discussion about Yom Kippur, immersion in a Mikvah is compared by Rabbi Akiva with the relationship between G-d and Israel. Akiva refers to the description in the Book of Jeremiah of G-d as the "Mikvah of Israel", and argues that "just as a mikvah purifies the contaminated, so does the holy one, blessed is he, purify Israel" [Yoma 85b] .

A different allegory is used by many Jews adhering to a belief in resurrection as one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith. Since "living water" in a lifeless frozen state (as ice) is still likely to again become living water (after melting), it became customary in traditional Jewish bereavement rituals to read the seventh chapter of the Mikvaot tractate in the Mishnah, following a funeral; the Mikvaot tractate covers the laws of the mikvah, and the seventh chapter starts with a discussion of substances which can be used as valid water sources for a mikvah - snow, hail, frost, ice, salt, and pourable mud.

ee also

*Conversion to Judaism
*Mikva'ot - section of the Mishna discussing the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of a mikvah.
*Niddah
*Ritual washing in Judaism

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.mikvah.org/directory Global Mikvah Directory] (Mikvah.org)
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=1541 The Mikvah] , by Rivkah Slonim (Chabad.org)
* [http://www.aish.com/family/rebbitzen/The_Intimate_Road.asp The Mikvah: A Spiritual Experience]
* [http://www.boomerstv.com/episodes_video.php?lid=239 Pathways to the Sacred] video clip with Anita Diamant

References

* Charlotte Fonrobert, "Menstrual Purity: Rabbinic and Christian Reconstructions of Biblical Gender",Stanford University Press, 2000
* Isaac Klein, "A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice", JTS Press, New York, 1992
* Kolel Menachem, "Kitzur Dinei Taharah: A Digest of the Niddah Laws Following the Rulings of the Rebbes of Chabad", Kehot Publication Society, Brooklyn, New York, 2005

Jewish lifeHalakha