JEWISH WORLD

By BETH KISSILEFF S heep bleating to the side, a small crescent moon above us, signals the fourth night of the month of Elul as it sinks into a darkening sky over our small camp- fire. A few people stuff the flames with papers and twigs. The wet wood is not motivated to burn but there is enough light so that we need not resort to smartphone flash- light apps. A box of kosher, gluten- free s’mores ingredients sit on a bench around the fire. We were gathered not to eat the s’mores, though marshmallows were consumed, but to tell stories. And not just any campfire stories, but stories about water that was 40 seahs from a natural source then mixed with other water that a Jew could immerse in to transform. Stories, about the mikveh, the Jewish ritual bath in which immer- sion in the water can serve many different purposes. The mikveh can assist in com- pleting healing after finishing rounds of chemo, or after a divorce, or overcoming abuse, or adapting a new Hebrew name after a gender transition. It can join a new convert to the community of the Jewish people in a formal ritual, literally changing one’s status in the act of entering a pool of mixed natural and drawn water, making a blessing and leaving. The mikveh can be used before marriage, or each month after a menstrual period. Some uses of the mikveh are more traditional than others, but the significance it can play in the lives of Jews explains why traditionally it is the first thing a community is supposed to build when founding itself. (Anyone interested can find more discussion of this in Igros Moshe Choshen Mishpat 1:42 a definitive work of halachic wisdom by the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.) But some Jews want more from the mikveh, which is what has brought us all to the Pearlstone Conference Center in Reisterstown, MD for the Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network Summer Gather- ing. The gathering’s ration- ale according to organizers website is to “celebrate the diverse community of all those who embrace an open, inclusive, welcoming approach to ritual immer- sion as a way to mark life transitions.” It started in 2000, when author Anita Diamant of Red Tent fame, wrote an essay about why she wanted a mikveh. Her newfound fame from the success of her novel about the inner lives of Dinah (Genesis 34) and other Biblical women gave Diamant a platform to make her vision for mikveh a reali- ty. For Diamant, having an open mikveh is about “access.” She was dis- mayed to see Con-serva- tive Jewish converts lined up assembly line style all at once without personal time or space to reflect as they undergo the powerful, ritual moment that immersion for conversion should be. Diamant said in an interview in the dining hall of the Pearlstone Center that a “self- respecting community should offer better.” She believed there had to be a “thoughtful, meaning- ful” way to do mikveh that would jive with what it means to be “speaking Jewish in the 20th century.” She wrote an essay with her vision and reasons her community needed a mikveh, and created a five-person board, which hired Aliza Klein as founding executive director in 2001 and opened in 2004 according to the history on the website. Boston-area Mayyim Hayyim has hosted more than 19,000 immersions since then, according to Carrie Bornstein, cur- rent executive director. The gathering had 33 participants and workshops ranging from, “Bringing Mikveh Education to your community” to “Queer Mikveh Project Info,” along with a screening of a trailer about the proj- ect by artist and filmmaker Rebekah Erev. About 14 of us were in a work- shop on “Hidden Treasures: Telling Your Mikveh Story” with the story- teller Noa Baum where she instruct- ed us in how to claim our space before starting to speak to a group. We practiced telling a story to one person, sitting knee to knee, then to two, before walking in front of the group and, keeping Baum’s wisdom in mind, trying to bring the audi- ence along with us. A round the campfire, the stories developed. The girl with acne and other cysts in her body found healing by becoming a Hebrew priestess and connecting to earth rit- uals and to mikveh. A man told of bathing naked in the Mediterranean with his stepson and how after the mikveh experience, the young man cut his long hair and matured. A college student who struggled with uncomfortable menstrual periods and had taken medication so as not to have a period was having periods again. The mikvah ritual is helping her rethink her relationship to men- struation and her body. A lesbian who had lived in Philly in the early 70’s told of her Mikveh Immersion Therapy Hebrew priestesses for healing and deeper connections on mikveh retreat continued on page 30 6 JEWISH WORLD • SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2018 The Jewish people in a formal ritual, literally change one’s status in the act of entering a pool of mixed natural and drawn water, making a blessing and leaving. The ritual of mikveh should be a thoughtful and meaningful experience for each Jew who participates. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant $10.60 Hardcover A Wyatt Books 321 pages REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK