12 votes

Menstruating on Wedding Day

Practically speaking, the wedding goes ahead as planned, with minor differences at the ceremony: The groom is careful not to touch the bride when putting the ring on her finger. The groom does not ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
10 votes

Building a Mikva Upstairs

There is no Halachic issue SA YD 201.7 Rema הגה: מותר לעשותו על הגג ובלבד שלא יהיה תוך כלי או אבן אחת שחקקו ולבסוף קבעו אבל חבור אבנים הרבה לא מקרי כלי (תשובת הרשב"א סימן ת"ת):‏ Its allowed ...
kouty's user avatar
  • 22.7k
9 votes

May a mikveh immerse by shower rather than by tank?

This wouldn't work, as Mikvah water needs to be contained (Ashboren) not flowing (Zochalin). See Rambam Mikvaot 9:18 for a parallel case.
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
9 votes
Accepted

Difference between Chabad mikvaos and other mikvaos?

It's not politics (at least not purely); it's a matter of construction. Suppose you have a big pit in the ground that collects rainwater; everyone agrees that pit is a mikvah. Fine. Today, people want ...
Shalom's user avatar
  • 131k
8 votes

Menstruating on Wedding Day

She has a chuppas niddah. It was a dispute among the Rishonim as to what extent chuppas niddah is effective, but common practice is that they go ahead with the wedding as normal (Shach Yoreh De'ah 192:...
Y     e     z's user avatar
8 votes

Removing Niddah status without a mikvah

Shulchan Arukh (YD 201:1) writes: אין האשה עולה מטומאתה ברחיצה במרחץ ואפילו עלו עליה כל מימות שבעולם עדיין היא בטומאתה וחייבים עליה כרת עד שתטבול כל גופה בבת אחת במי מקוה או מעיין שיש בהם מ' ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
8 votes

Why does water purify?

R Aryeh Kaplan in his beautiful book Waters of Eden (also part of his Anthology vol. 2) writes this is a chok and cites Bamidbar Rabbah 19:8 By your lives, a dead person doesn't make things impure, ...
mbloch's user avatar
  • 48.1k
8 votes
Accepted

Aruch Hashulchan on municipality water for a mikvah

Aruch Hashulchan YD 201:169 ויש מקוות בערים הגדולות שבשם הולכים המים מהנהרות לכל בתי העיר דרך צנורות וסלונות תחת הקרקע בעומק ונקרא בלשון המדינה וואד"א פראוואדי"ן וממשיכין גם למקואות המים ...
sam's user avatar
  • 41.1k
7 votes
Accepted

How does one create a mikvah in a region without precipitation?

Ohr.edu says that in an area where there is no rain, snow can be trucked in. Putting snow in a mikveh and letting it melt is in fact one of the methods sometimes used to fill a mikveh. I hear ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

May one immerse in a body of water that was used for baptism?

A private mikvah used for baptism would be prohibited. As per BT Avodah Zarah p.58B and 59A, though, a body of water in the public domain cannot become prohibited, see discussion below: ר"ל איקלע ...
יהושע ק's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Mikvah during UK COVID-19 Lockdown

This is the guidance issued by the United Synagogue. The observance of Taharat Hamishpacha (the laws of family purity) is a fundamental mitzvah. Mikvaot remain open for women. Best-practice ...
Daniel Ross's user avatar
  • 1,931
7 votes

Can I convert a pool into a kosher mikvah (for wife)

Obviously, as you mentioned, you'll ask a specific shaila. Here's a couple of issues for you to check out and ask: 1) how was your pool made? If it was a preformed concrete block which is placed in ...
Binyomin's user avatar
  • 2,961
7 votes
Accepted

Did the Rama change a Minhag regarding Mikvah?

The Lev Haivri* writes when the Rema was accepted as Rav in Krakow, there had a strange Minhag in the city. The morning after a woman went to the Mikvah, the Mikvah Lady’s husband, wished the ...
Chatzkel's user avatar
  • 10.6k
6 votes

Shomer Negiyah- negated by Mikvah?

The issue of touching a woman when sexual intercourse is forbidden is addressed in Shulchan Aruch Yore Deah 195, sayf 17; Shach Sayf Katan 20; Gemara Shabbos 13; and the main discussion is in Sefer ...
kouty's user avatar
  • 22.7k
6 votes

What happens if a non-Jew uses a mikvah?

Maimonides states in the Laws of Forbidden Sexual Relations 13:4, that a non-Jew immerses in a mikveh by himself, it has no effect. The Shulchan Aruch in Y"D 268:3 holds this way as well, provided one ...
Y K's user avatar
  • 1,723
6 votes
Accepted

Can mikvah water become tamei?

Water in a Mikvah does not become Tamei. (Actually, Tamei water is the only food/drink which can become Tahor again, and this is by connecting it to a Mikvah (Mishna, Beitza 2:3).) See the first ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 97.4k
6 votes
Accepted

Where are the 24-hour keilim mikvaot in NYC?

I just called Washington Heights Keilim mikvah. Located on Bennet Ave. between W. 185 St and W. 186 St. Manhattan. Phone: 212 923 3582 The woman told me that the entrance is to the right of the ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.1k
6 votes

How many times should I make sure to dip when I toivel in the mikveh?

You should dip once, as the Rambam says in הלכות מקואות - פרק ראשון that somebody who dips more than once is behaving inappropriately. The Kesef Mishne explains the reason: It looks like he's bathing ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Why does one need to go to the mikvah before writing a letter in the Torah?

As @DoubleAA wrote in the comments, this is not halacha, but a minhag brought by some, e.g., from here #2 "Ritual immersion on a regular basis (not just because of the decree of Ezra) is fitting ...
mbloch's user avatar
  • 48.1k
6 votes

Embarrassed to go to mikvah

Find a distant Mikveh where nobody knows him and different hours Find a real frum Mikveh - Haredi guys don't care at all re-Consider the importance of going to Mikveh - it's not a necessity, not a ...
Al Berko's user avatar
  • 25.7k
6 votes

Embarrassed to go to mikvah

Go the ocean, which is as kosher a mikvah as they come, wearing a loose-fitting garment
יהושע ק's user avatar
6 votes

Embarrassed to go to mikvah

You ask: How should I comfort him as a friend and tell it's importance? Answer: It's not important. You ask: Is there any solution for his problem? Answer: He doesn't have to go to the Mikveh ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
6 votes

Why dunk three times in a mikva?

The Sefer Chasidim (siman 294) brings a source for this practice. Namely, that "tahor" is found three times in a passuk in Tanach that relates to the mitzvah of immersion. The p'sukim are: 1)...
alicht's user avatar
  • 12k
6 votes

Is it possible to build a mikvah for personal use as an orthodox Jew?

The question seems to be not if it it theoretically possible to build a private mikva, but practically how to go about doing so. This is beyond the scope of a Q&A website, and that is not a new ...
Mordechai's user avatar
  • 3,463
6 votes
Accepted

How can a mikvah be kosher if rain water flows through it?

As mentioned in the comments, the Mikva already has 40 seah and the running rain water is in addition to that so it won’t make it passul. I’ve searched for a direct source for this on this Rambam and ...
Chatzkel's user avatar
  • 10.6k
5 votes

May a couple forgo relations out of convenience?

It appears that yes, indeed, you can postpone relations if both spouses agree, but it is best avoided. The international Beis Horaah says It is better not to postpone marital relations, but if it ...
mbloch's user avatar
  • 48.1k
5 votes
Accepted

Do permanently unmarried women need to go to the mikvah?

There is a Tannaic dispute whether or not going to mikveh at the earliest time possible is an independent mitzvah (טבילה בזמנה מצוה או לאו מצוה) (see e.g. Yoma 8a). According to this opinion, a woman ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
5 votes

A wife wants to stop going to the mikva. What does that mean for the husband?

You might explain it to your wife like this: Judaism makes the most important things in life mandatory rather than optional. It is not optional for a Jew to pray. It is not optional for him to have ...
SAH's user avatar
  • 19.6k
5 votes
Accepted

Looking for a list of Mikva'ot in the U.S. or Canada that have ramps

This link from the OU lists Mikvas that are accessible to handicapped people.
Gershon Gold's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

What's the Conservative-level interpretation of mikveh requirements for a convert?

The Conservative movement requires immersion in a kosher mikvah, circumcision (for male converts), and evaluation by a beit din (a court of three). Immersion and circumcision require at least two ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar

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