After scandal, a simple mikvah proposal

[Update 8:09 AM - Within a few minutes of posting this, I received a notice from a rabbinic friend, who informed me that the "Mikvah Emunah Society of Greater Washington" has already sent out a notice listing steps that they are taking. One of them is, "Male volunteers who assist MES with maintenance issues at the Wallerstein Mikvah will no longer be permitted to enter the mikvah without a woman accompanying them." Baruch shekivanti, although I believe that having a committee of women control access is a more practical method than accompanying, as outlined below.]

I am still processing the rabbinic scandal from Kesher Israel in Washington DC. (I am not hiding his name to protect him; I am refusing to type it because looking at it makes me ill.) I have many thoughts going through my head, but I'm not ready to post on it today. I'm not sure which ones are logical yet.

However, I do want to make the following proposal: No male should have unfettered access to a mikvah, even a supervising rabbi. 

Like any male, the rabbi should have neither the keys not the combination, whatever system of access is used. There should be a small committee of women who are licensed to let him in (and who will have the ability to inspect it after he leaves, should there be any concerns).

I say this as a rabbi who supervised a community mikvah for eight years, during which time we actually had two mikvaos – an old one, which needed halachic maintenance, and a new one, which needed the halachic attention that comes with a new mikvah. I had the keys and I used them, but in truth, I could have done everything I needed to do by working through a small committee of contact people.

Of course, men also use the mikvah, and the rabbi could have access like any other male during those times. But women should be in charge of making sure the mikvah is open during those times, and should be the ones to lock up, and check the facility as needed, afterward. [And where possible, the men and women should have dedicated changing areas, with the women's changing areas locked when the mikvah is in use by men. Where this is not practical, women should inspect the changing areas from time to time.]

This is not about accusing all rabbis, or all men, of impropriety and evil intent. Rather, it's like in hashgachah in the kosher food industry. Just as we recognize that a religiously observant business owner has a yetzer hara for profit, and therefore we don't allow him unfettered access to his food service establishment, so we must recognize that most males have a yetzer hara in sexual matters, and therefore we should not allow them unfettered access to a place where women are unclothed.

Does this make sense to you?

A Liberating Swim in the Mikvah (Derashah Shemini 5769)

In the 1920s and 1930s, psychiatrists prescribed hydrotherapy for delirium, excitement and other nervous disorders. Thetreatments involved everything from extended baths to strong sprays of cold water, all based on the observable fact that immersing in water, and thereby shutting out the world, calms people.

Many of those hydrotherapeutic prescriptions have since been discredited, but the core practice remains popular. There are few experiences as soothing, and as liberating from stress and dark emotion, as a good bath – and that, according to Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, is what drives the mikvah mitzvah outlined in our parshah.


The Torah instructs us to immerse after contact with death – whether with a human corpse, or with the carcasses of various animals, or even with the diminished potential associated with the loss of male seed or a woman’s egg. In all of those cases, one goes to a mikvah, dipping entirely into a body of collected rainwater.

As with every other set of laws, Judaism offers a range of interpretations to explain what Gd wants us to learn from this mitzvah. One of my perennial favorites, Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, presents an approach which demonstrates the way that immersion in a mikvah fits into the broader life of the Jew.


As Hirsch explains in his commentary on the Torah, a human being is not, automatically, blessed with free will and capable of making independent decisions. The potential for free will is present from the very start of life; we are free to become righteous, or the opposite! But we travel and interact inside a confining system which dampens that expression, accustoming us to a materialism and an animal existence in which our environment as well as the pressure of our basic needs limit our opportunities and dictate our decisions.

This limitation, this repression of our spiritual freedom, is nowhere stronger than in death, that ultimate expression of our most basic animal aspect and that acknowledgement that our souls lack complete mastery over our world.


Enter immersion in a mikvah, to rescue a human being from this loss of spiritual dominion. As Hirsch writes, “When a man immerses the whole of himself in water of that nature, and completely and in direct contact enters this element, he completely… leaves the stage of Mankind and for the moment returns to the sphere of the world of elements, to begin a new life of Taharah. It is symbolic of a new birth.”

Immersing in a mikvah is our opportunity to shut out the physical world, to silence our more animal natures, and to return to the pristine character of our moment of creation. It applies to men and women alike, a step toward a cure for ailments which cannot be seen with the naked eye, but which are nonetheless real.


And so, the Jews who flee Egypt immerse before they can receive the Torah.
And so, every person who wishes to convert to Judaism immerses.
And so, the Jew who wishes to bring an offering to Gd in the Beit haMikdash immerses.
And so, ancient Jewish homes excavated all over Israel contained private mikvah baths.
And so, the Jews who came to Easton in the end of the 18th century, Jews who lacked kosher restaurants and glatt meat and eruvin, made certain to immerse in Bushkill Creek.
And so, every shochet who wishes to shecht, every mohel who wishes to conduct a bris, immerses beforehand.
And so, a bride and groom immerse before marriage.
And so, many Jewish men immerse on Fridays and before Yom Tov.

And so, Jews of all persuasions – right here at our Mikvah in Allentown - have come to see mikvah as a transformative experience for key moments in their lives, based not on halachic requirement but on an understanding of what this remarkable act of religious hydrotherapy, in the right context, can accomplish.


I am not a practitioner of or proponent of creative ritual in general, but I believe that those groups who have taken on use of the mikvah in addition to its halachic function – not as a replacement for halachah, but as an addition to it – are doing a wonderful thing. They understand the Hirschian message, they are sensitive to their own deeper condition, and they are taking the reins of their spiritual lives through this action.

We could all cite a thousand current articles from magazines and newspapers from across the religious and non-religious spectrum, highlighting the problem of finding spirituality in our daily lives. Our time constraints, our work obligations, our health considerations, our family pressures, our volunteer work, all clamor for our time and our attention, and the resulting noise drowns out the קול דממה דקה, that small voice that says, “Don’t forget about the soul.”

The mikvah is a way to re-connect. Anyone can do it – feel free to speak to my wife Caren, or to me, about ways to take advantage.


For the Haftorah last Shabbos, during Pesach, we read Yechezkel’s message of re-birth, the resurrection of the dry bones and the promise of an ultimate rejuvenation of the Jewish people. Just before that message, in the preceding chapter, Yechezkel pledged to the Jewish people that HaShem would use water to purify us – granting us a לב חדש, a new heart, and a רוח חדשה, a new spirit.

At a time when so many of us are trying to feel something beyond stress and strain, at a time when we need that new heart and that new spirit, we have the opportunity to re-embrace our parshah’s spiritual hydrotherapy, and so merit a לב חדש and a רוח חדשה, as well as Yechezkel’s promised final step, והנחתי אתכם על אדמתכם, a return to our land of Israel.

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Notes:
I have much to say here, but no time right now. Perhaps later, or in the comments...

Daf Notes on Nedarim - III

39-40 are so packed it feels absurd to say anything at all. Here are a few notes, but there is a lot more to say:

1. Regarding the sitting/standing debate - Assuming no nedarim are involved, I always recommend that people sit down, unless they feel their prolonged presence would be a burden for the choleh. Sitting tells the choleh he has your full attention, and you aren't racing out the door ASAP.

2. Why is there no gezeirah of "don't visit, lest you sit inappropriately?" I suspect it's because chazal don't want to create a gezeirah limiting bikur cholim. (Alternatively, perhaps we don't have a gezeirah because this is a milsa d'lo shchicha, but then why do we have a gezeirah not to sit, lest one remain?)

3. These laws re: neder pertain to private home visits, but should not apply to hospital visits, other than in an area where we pay people (such as social workers) to visit cholim.

4. The group of 7 is interestingly divisible into 3 complementary pairs, and Mashiach.

5. Note the angelic titling of Moshe as "Ben Amram." This is standard in Malach dialogue regarding Moshe, such as the gemara in Shabbos in which the malachim challenge Moshe's right to the Torah. We find in midrashim that "Ben Amram" is used as a pejorative, such as when Kalev gives his "bait and switch" attack on Moshe, and when Dasan and Aviram attack Moshe. Here, though, that doesn't seem to be the case. Perhaps it's because the malachim recognize Amram's great rank (as one of the four who never sinned). Alternatively, perhaps it's because Moshe was great in his youth, when he was known by his father's name - we have a similar explanation for the names of Ben Zoma and Ben Azai, in some rishonim.

6. Rav Yosef discuss the schar for bikkur cholim here. I haven't had a chance to do a CD-ROM search, but recall that Rav Yosef discuss schar mitzvah in other places as well - re: his own schar mitzvah as a blind man, and the question of the schar for an eino metzuveh v'oseh. Perhaps there are other places as well; I don't recall at the moment. See also his comment on Makkos 23b regarding HaShem's punishments and Chagigah 4b on dying early (I admit I looked at my own webshas notes for those last two).

7. A MUST see - The Ran at the top of 40a on praying for a person to die.


On 40, the issue of reward for bikkur cholim comes up. One of my Daffies here asked about the gemara at the end of Chullin, which says Schar mitzvah b'hai alma leca. I would respond with two points:
1. Specific to this issue - Here, the schar is explicitly stated in a pasuk;
2. In general - It seems to me that the nature of HaShem's schar/onesh is subject to machlokes in the gemara; views are expressed which are mutually exclusive. This isn't a big deal; as the Rambam noted in his comments to the end of Sanhedrin, we don't need to pasken on these issues.

40 is also very interesting for the tangent into the laws of Mikvah vs. Maayan. I highly recommend an article by Rabbi Howard Jachter on the differences between the two, and the issue of Zochlin.

You might take a look at Tosafos in Bava Basra 141a "l'didi", when you see Rav Chisda's note on the importance of a wife, on 41a. I'm not sure what to do with Tosafos's second answer, in relation to Rav Chisda's emphasis on marriage. There might be no connection, but it seems to me that there is one...

On 41 we find Rav Yosef's tragic story, which is particularly ironic given his role as "Sinai" in the classic "Sinai vs. Oker Harim" debate at the end of Berachos.

We also find a similar story involving Rebbe and R' Chiyya, and here the number 13 appears again. If you recall my comment on 13 and exaggeration, see my reference there to Bava Basra, but also see Rashi in Shabbos 119a on the ilisa d'dinri (towards the bottom of the page), and the Maharsha there. Of course, 13 here does seem to be a specific number - unless the point is that the launderer knew the lesser half.

Re: miracles of refuah, see the Ramban's approach to nisim, that the purpose of a nes nigleh (open miracle) is to make sure we notice the nes nistar (hidden miracle). We also talk about this regarding the nes of waking up in the morning.

Note also the Rosh on eating milk at the same table where someone eats dairy, and the difference between that and the neder case.

In general: See the Ran and the Rosh all through this daf; interesting conflicting views here, such as on the issue of the tamchui hachozeir l'baal habayis, and on the question of whether healing the animal is a mitzvah of hashavas aveidah.

Class: Mikvah Use for Men

Below are Mareh Mekomot (references) for a class I expect to deliver this evening, on "Mikvah Use for Men." Our focus will be on weekday morning immersion, use before Shabbat and Yom Tov, and use before Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur.

I might post audio from the class; we'll see.

Mikvah for Men
torczyner@gmail.com - http://rechovot.blogspot.com/

Mikvah before Shacharit in the morning
1. Talmud, Berachot 22a
R’ Yehudah ben Beteirah said: Words of Torah cannot become impure. Once a student was mumbling above R’ Yehudah ben Beteirah, who said to him, ‘My son, open your mouth and let your words shine forth! Words of Torah cannot become impure.’

2. Talmud, Berachot 22a
It is written: ‘And you shall make them known to your children, and to your children’s children. The day on which you stood before HaShem your Gd at Chorev.’ Just as that day was experienced with awe and fear and trembling and shaking, so now it should be experienced with awe and fear and trembling and shaking. Based on this, they taught… that a baal keri may not learn Torah.

3. Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachot 3:4
R’ Yaakov bar Avun said: They only enacted this immersion so that Jewish men would not be found with their wives like these roosters…
R’ Chiyya bar Va said: They only enacted this immersion for the sake of study. If you were to tell him it was permitted, he would say, “I will do my needs and then come learn as needed.” Now, because you tell him it is prohibited, he comes to learn as needed.

4. Talmud, Berachot 22a
A baal keri who has 9 kav of water poured upon him is tahor.

5. Rambam, Mishneh Torah Hilchot Tefilah 4:5
This enactment for prayer has also been annulled, because it did not spread through all of Israel and the tzibbur lacked the strength to uphold it.

6. Talmidei Rabbeinu Yonah to Berachot 22a (13b in their pages)
All of the rashei yeshivot in Bavel expressed amazement at him for being lenient regarding the immersions of a baal keri, and he replied that he never missed that immersion, even for a moment, but that he couldn’t write anything in his Code other than that which emerged as the halachic law.

7. Rosh to Berachot 3:21
There is a view that the statement , “They have annulled immersion,” refers to immersion for Torah study as well as for prayer. Another view says the nullification was only for Torah study, but prayer requires immersion, or at least bathing in 9 kav. Rav Hai Gaon wrote that since this isn’t in the gemara, take the practice of all of Israel in your hand, that a baal keri does not pray until he can wash, even if he has no water.

8. Talmud, Berachot 22a
R’ Yehudah taught that a baal keri is permitted to learn Hilchot Derech Eretz.
Once, R’ Yehudah experienced keri and was walking afterward by a river when his students asked him to teach them a segment of Hilchot Derech Eretz. He descended and immersed and then taught them. They asked, ‘Didn’t you teach us, our master, that one may learn Hilchot Derech Eretz? To which he replied, ‘Although I am lenient for others, I am strict for myself.’

9. Rambam, Mishneh Torah Hilchot Tefilah 4:6
The common practice in Shinar and Sfarad is that a baal keri does not pray until he has bathed himself entirely in water, under ‘Prepare to greet your Gd, Israel.’ This is true for one who is healthy, or for an ill person who has engaged in sexual relations. One who emitted keri unwillingly, though, is exempt from this act of bathing, and there is no custom for this.

10. Talmud, Berachot 22a
R’ Yannai said: I have heard that some are lenient in it (immersing rather than using 9 kav) and I have heard that some are strict in it. One who is strict in this matter for himself will have long days and years.

11. Tosefta Yadayim 2:9
The Boethusians said: We complain against you, Pharisees! If the daughter of my son, who is a result of his strength, can inherit from me, then my own daughter, who is a result of my strength, should logically be able to inherit from me!
The morning immersers said: We complain against you, Pharisees! You mention HaShem’s Name while impure!

12. Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachot 3:4
R’ Chanina passed the gates of Dimusin early in the morning and asked, ‘What are these morning immersers doing here? Let them go learn!’ When he passed them later in the morning he said, ‘One who has work to do should go work!’

13. R’ Chaim Vital, Hakdamah to Eitz Chaim
Nothing helps a person’s grasp of Torah like taharah and tevillah.

14. R’ Yechiel Michel Epstein, Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 326:10
A person may immerse in a Mikvah on Shabbat morning, though; this is especially true for a person who ordinarily immerses after exposure to keri. This would not be an act of mending; the sages annulled the requirement for this type of immersion. There are those who argue against immersion in a Mikvah on Shabbat, but people have not been concerned for that; this custom has spread in all the reaches of Israel. People should take care not to wring out hair, and not to make the Mikvah too hot; that would involve a full-fledged prohibition against bathing in hot water. The water should be cold or lukewarm. It would be appropriate for an unlearned layman to abstain from immersion; he could easily violate the law in wringing out his hair, as I have seen happen with my own eyes.

Mikvah on Fridays and Erev Yom Tov
15. Talmud, Shabbat 25b
Rav Yehudah reported, in the name of Rav: This was the practice of R’ Yehudah b”r Ilai: On Fridays they would bring him a bowl filled with hot water and he would wash his face, hands and feet and cloak himself and sit in tzitzit-fringed sheets and resemble an angel of Gd.

16. Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 260:1
Mechaber: It is a mitzvah to bathe one’s face, hands and feet in hot water on Friday. It is a mitzvah to wash one’s head and to shave one’s nails on Friday.
Rama: This means washing one’s whole body. If that is not possible, then one washes one’s face, etc.

17. R’ Yechiel Michel Epstein, Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 260:1
Some customarily immerse in a Mikvah for the sanctity of Shabbat; their lot is praised, for in this way they bring upon themselves the sanctity of the holy Shabbat.

18. R’ Yechiel Michel Epstein, Aruch haShulchan Orach Chaim 242:41
They go to bathhouses for the honor of Shabbat, and many immerse in a Mikvah as well, to purify themselves for the sanctity of Shabbat.

19. Mishneh Berurah 551:95
Even if one regularly washes his whole body in hot water every Friday, on Erev Shabbat Chazon he may not wash his whole body, even in cold water. As far as immersion, one who immerses every Friday may do so, but one who fails to do it occasionally, because of business or cold, may not do it.

Erev Rosh haShanah and Erev Yom Kippur
20. Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 16b
Rabbi Yitzchak said: One is obligated to purify himself at the regel.

21. Tur, Orach Chaim 66
So is found in Pirkei d’R’ Eliezer, chapter 15: “Samael sees that no sin can be found for a Jew on Yom Kippur, and he says, ‘Master of the Universe, You have one nation in the land that is like the angels; just as the angels are barefoot…' The practice is to immerse on Erev Yom Kippur, and Rav Amram says to immerse in the 7th hour and daven minchah… My father and master the Rosh said one should not recite a blessing for this immersion, for no hint to this immersion is found in the Talmud, and it is not an establishment of the prophets or a custom of the prophets… and if it were from Rabbi Yitzchak’s statement that one must immerse for the regel then that would mean purification from all impurities, even that of the dead, with sprinklings on the 3rd and 7th, and now we do not have that purification, and since baal keri doesn’t immerse all year, there is no obligation for it and one should not recite a blessing. It is just that people customarily purify themselves from keri for Yom Kippur, and they link it to the midrash that we are clean like the angels on Yom Kippur.

22. Rama, Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 606:4
One need immerse only once, without viduy, because of keri. Having nine kav poured upon him is also effective.

23. Mishneh Berurah 606:21
Some say that the reason for immersion is for teshuvah, according to which one should immerse three times.