Reclaiming Mikveh

"Water has the power to purify: to restore and replenish life, to our essential spiritual selves."

The Mikveh often elicits a range of strong reactions from Jewish women.

Following on the success of our first publication: 'Bereavement Booklet for Jewish Women', and our Mikveh Monologues workshop at Limmud last year we are working on a new project about past, present and future use and attitudes to Mikveh.

To participate in this project, please contact us with your contributions. We are looking for personal stories of your experience of Mikveh, positive or negative. In particular, we would like contributions from women in the UK, as most of the material available at the moment is sourced from the United States.

• Does the Mikveh feel relevant to your life?

• Does the Mikveh have an impact on your relationship with Judaism?

• Does the Mikveh affect your relationship with your partner?

• Is the Mikveh exclusive?

• Has the Mikveh been reclaimed by non-Orthodox women?

• Has the Mikveh been used to acknowledge lifecycle events and create new rituals around menopause, surgery, rape, eating disorders and violence?

• What should the Mikveh be used for?

• What is the link between feminism and Mikveh?

• What are your experiences and attitudes around Mikveh, the good, the bad, the ugly, the spiritual?

• How has the perception of Mikveh affected our relationship with our bodies as women today?

• What are your feelings and experiences around Taharat Ha'mishpacha (the laws of family purity) and the usage of Mikveh?

• Is their adequate support and information available?

• What is your vision of an ideal Mikveh?

• What does it mean to go to the Mikveh?

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