אני קושית יפה/I’m a Cute Black Girl Pg 75
Turns out I am not quite Jewish yet. I mean, yeah, so I passed my exam and I graduated, and I am prepping my reading for graduation next month, but only after going to the Mikvah will I officially be Jewish.
A few years ago, I was baptized. I wore all white clothes and did it in front of everyone that came to church that day and stayed for the ceremony. It was at 
I remember feeling to cleansed and close to G-d that day. I took pictures and sent them to my Jewish family, and it was all great. Went to church every Sunday for a while and tried to be involved in the church. But after a while I became conflicted with my idea of Jesus and how he is the savior of all Christians and how as long as I believed in him and that he is the Son of G-d that I could basically do any ill thing and just come to church on Sunday, pray and believe in him and all would be good. I mean I know there is more to it than that, but I just felt that Christianity was not enough for me, and I could never let go of my Jewish Identity and beliefs.
Jump to a few years later, I get married then Covid hits and I just start questioning my life and everything. I was not Chrisitan, and I wasn’t Jewish, but I needed to be something. So here I am now completed my course and prepping to go for my Transformative Dip in the Mikvah.
- How to prepare at home
– The mikvah ritual is meant to be transformative – the more intention you bring to the moment, the more powerful it will be. The mikvah is not meant to be experienced as a spiritual cleansing. It is suggested that you spend time at home to thoroughly clean yourself before arriving to the mikveh.
– The water should be able to meet your entire body without a barrier, so be sure to remove all makeup and/or nail-polish beforehand, as well as all jewelry and piercings. Before arriving, please brush your teeth, floss, clean inside your ears, nose, etc. Basically, make sure you’ve given yourself a thorough cleaning from top to toes! Traditionally you are not supposed to wear any clothing when you enter the water. Please see below to understand more about how we ensure your privacy and safety throughout the ritual.
– To shave or not to shave? – Totally up to you! Hair is a natural part of the body so it is not considered a barrier between you and the water.
– Nail or hair extensions which cannot be easily removed and/or which are financially burdensome to replace can be kept on
– We recommend using these 7 beautiful kavanot to help guide you as you prepare – both at home and just before going into the mikvah water.
I always thought of the Mikvah as being Spiritual. I would like to know why it isn’t though. I mean with the prayers during and that time you would prepare yourself spiritually, wouldn’t you think of it being a Spiritual Process. I get the transforming. I mean at this particular Mikvah Occasion I am transforming into a Jew. Then there are other times when one would go to transform into a married person/a cleansed person etc.
Last night I took off the nail polish off my toes. Saturday I have myself booked for a Manicure Gellish Soak Off. Need to cancel my hair appointment for tomorrow night, will get my hair treated and died in a few weeks time.
- What happens during the ceremony
– You clean at home thoroughly, as described above (this is already part of the ceremony, which is why we recommend using the Kavanot linked above).
– Please use the toilet before entering the mikvah waters.
– Brush your hair one last time before going into the water. You may also want to bring body-wipes and give yourself a last quick wipe-down.
– Wrap yourself in a comfortable towel or robe and come out to the water.
– Before you enter the water, you can sit quietly beforehand, or we can sing a niggun together. You can also choose to read a meaningful prayer, poem, song, etc. to yourself or aloud.
– We will give you something to read aloud that will include the paragraph from Ruth (Entreat me not to leave you…wherever you go, I will go…Where you die, I will die and there will I be buried.)
– When you are ready, you will take off your robe/towel and get into the water (see below for more details about how we protect your privacy).
– Usually we say blessings before we do an act, except in a few cases – this is one such case! Until you immerse, you are not yet Jewish, so you cannot say the blessing of being ‘commanded’ (asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav) until after you have gone under the water.
– Immerse into the water 1x or 3x or 7x (1x immersion is halachically necessary, the other numbers are different customs. We usually guide you through 3 immersions but you’re welcome to do 7 if it feels meaningful).
– With each immersion make sure your entire body and all of your hair go under the water. Make sure your arms and legs are spread out a little bit so that the water can reach all of you.
– After the first immersion, you will say the blessing: Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech ha-olam asher kid-shanu b’mitzvo-tav v’tzi-vanu al ha-tevilah. (Blessed are You, Adonai, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with the mitzvot and commanded us concerning immersion)
– For those who immerse more than once, it is customary to say the Sh’ma after the 2nd immersion, and the Shechechiyanu blessing after the 3rd (the blessing for firsts, and for arriving to this moment! Baruch ata adonai eloheinu melech ha-olam she-heche-yanu, ve-ki-y’manu, ve-higi-yanu la-z’man ha-zeh. Blessed are You, Source of all Life, Who has kept us alive and sustained us, and enabled us to reach this day.)
I wonder if it is okay that I don’t know all these prayers off byheart. I am thinking that I will make this an annual activity. Go before Yom Kippur every year.
- Privacy and Sensitivity
– As mentioned before, ideally and traditionally this ritual is done with no barrier between you and the water, i.e. naked. This is a private ritual, witnessed only by a trained mikvah guide or rabbi of the same sex as the person immersing. We are not enforcing this tradition however, it is your choice and option.
– At the pool: we as mikveh guides will lift up a fabric/towel in front of us as you walk into the water (i.e. we will not be watching you disrobe and enter the water). We will only lower the towel once you are in the water, which often distorts what can be seen. We will watch to make sure you have fully immersed, with no hair floating dry above the water. We are also there to hear and witness your required and additional intentional readings and blessings before and in the water. It will only be one or two of us guides at a time and we will all follow these guidelines strictly, so that you are as comfortable as
possible. Our goal is to support you and hold the space for you, while also ensuring the ritual is followed correctly.
– For those who are not comfortable going into the mikvah naked, we will permit you to wear some loose-fitting clothes that can float around you when you enter the waters. A bathing costume is not ideal as it does create more of a barrier between you and the water than some kind of flowing garment. You can also wrap yourself in a towel or other soft fabric and wear it into the water with you and then just let go of it in the water.
– At Silvermine, since it is a public space, we recommend wearing your costume into the water. Once you are deep enough that the water is up to your neck, you can take off your costume. The water is dark and you won’t be able to see your own body (and thus no one else will be able to see you even if they swim right past you!). We will provide a floating container for you to place your costume in while you do your immersions and afterward you can put it back on before coming out of the water. Those who are comfortable to disrobe before going into the water are also welcome to do so if they choose, keeping in mind it is a public space.
– If you have family and/or friends coming to celebrate with you after the mikveh, we kindly ask that they wait for you outside / around the bend, not inside the mikveh space. However you will definitely be celebrated at the mikvah by us!!! If you would like your spouse or partner to be with you as an additional witness, they are permitted to attend.
– In case of children, parents are welcome/encouraged to be there and even come in the water with the child (especially in the case of a young child). Parents may come into the water in a bathing costume. A parent who is immersing on the same day as their child is welcome to do their own immersion beforehand, privately, or to immerse at the same time as their child.
This is where the Mikvah differs from the Baptism I experienced.
Totally free for G-d to enter me and cleanse me and to give myself to him. There will be no unnatural barriers between myself and the natural environment, the water.
Right now I find this to be more personal than what I experienced when a whole crowd of people; whom I didn’t know most of, and their cars were around me. While I was being baptized I could hear other cars around, but when I go the Mikvah it will just be me, G-d and a Femal Rabbi.
