Arlington/McLean Chapter Takes a Field Trip!

On the evening of June 21st, 2023, the Arlington/McLean Chapter took a fieldtrip to the Adas Israel Community Mikvah in Washington DC.

What is a Mikvah? A mikvah is a Jewish ritual bath that requires "living waters" from rain.  There is evidence that Jewish communities from antiquity have mikvaot (plural).  The ritual of immersion is based on centuries of Jewish tradition.  Traditionally, Jewish law requires some women to immerse before getting married and when observing the laws of niddah (Jewish "family purity laws") as well as a part of the process of conversion to Judaism.  Recently, progressive Jews have used the sacred ritual of the mikvah to mark milestones such as bat mitzvah, a new start after a loss, after miscarriage or other reasons.

Rabbi Elianna Yolkut, Rabbinic Scholar/Director Beit Midrash and Mikvah at Adas Israel Congregation led a text study/conversation about sacred water rituals and the history and value of mikvaot in the Jewish community.  We discussed the similarities and differences with Muslim wudu and other ablution water rituals as well as having a very meaningful conversation on the mikvah.  Muslim and Jewish sisters learned so much!

We highly recommend a conversation about sacred water rituals and a field trip to your local Mikvah.

* What Is A Mikveh? | My Jewish Learning (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-mikveh/)
* Mikveh | Jewish Women's Archive (jwa.org) (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/mikveh#:~:text=The%20mikveh%2C%20or%20ritual%20bath,of%20Jewish%20practice%20for%20centuries.)
* What is the mikvah all about? - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/what-is-the-mikvah-all-about/2014/11/07/cdff0784-6696-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html)
* A resource on creating a sacred water ritual: MikvahWaterTransitionRitual4.pdf (shulcloud.com) (https://images.shulcloud.com/1039/uploads/Mikvah/MikvahWaterTransitionRitual4.pdf)
* Understanding Mikvah and the Laws of Family Purity - Mikvah.org - Mivtza Taharas Hamishpacha (https://www.mikvah.org/article/understanding_mikvah_and_the_laws_of_family_purity_)
* Water rituals belong to many faiths - The Boston Globe (http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/21/water_rituals_belong_to_many_faiths/)