I'd rather be regarded as impure and tainted than sit in a mikvah - just the thought of it is revolting. Probably an idea made up by horny rabbis - a woman washing another naked woman is the stuff the wet dreams are made of LOL!

Not very easy.

What sick lesbian Mikveh were you at?? It sounds to me like you haven't really experienced the beautiful mikvehs in Israel. They're nothing like what you describe them. Some men's mikvhes are the way you describe them, but is this surprising to anyone?

the garbage can, so this is a very appropriate place for them.

Depends what sort of world you live in - the modern fantasy world of must have, or reality.

What is the point of Talula's comment? To show off superior intellect and education compared to this female haredi MIT engineer? FAIL. To show us how much Talula knows about mikvah? FAIL To show us how open-minded and tolerant Talula is, especially about a subject of which she is so profoundly uninformed? FAIL.

most people follow the saying that "if youy have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all" Ms Talula seems to have a mantra all of her own... "if you have nothing disparaging to say, just make something up"

Why not EARN the attention of others by doing something constructive with your life, instead of always trying to "steal the show" from others by making destructive comments? If you can't think of something positive to do with yourself, consider volunteering for a charity to help others, it will also be helping yourself.

Way to go!! That's the kind of change that I believe many can agree on. Using today's technology to keep up with ancient traditions-this is how it's supposed to happen.

I don't buy it.

For the last 50+ years, I've taken and continue to take a leisurely, hot bath every blessed day - 2 in the summer - during which I just about solve all the problems of the world; at least, as seen through the soap bubbles. How is that different from a ritual bath and why?

Mikvah is nothing to do with taking a nice bubble bath. It is a ritual requirement for achieving a level of purity. A person has to be completely clean before entering the mikvah. The High Priest had to enter the mikvah five times on Yom Kippur. Do you think this was because he got sweaty from performing the Temple service? Where do you think Christians got the idea of baptism? Why don't you ask the reverend at your church why there is a need for anyone to be baptized since you have running water in your house. Get back to me with your reverend's answer.

And that is Mikvah's are revolting and if a woman has to go there, so some revolting 'public bath' to make her husband feel she has been cleansed, then something is clearly wrong with them........not me.

What a very interesting comment. You must be one of those transparent women that no-body notices to make a comment like that. My talkback is my opinion, that's all - I don't need to 'steal the show' from anyone. It's not a talent competition here, it's where you add a talkback and give your opinion - there's no prizes to be won deary. Calm yourself down.

Talula, I understand that mikvah observance isn’t for you- but it is patently unfair and unkind to attack other women for what is a very personal choice. I’m fairly secular, but family purity and the mikvah are exceedingly important to me. It is a lovely, calming experience. There is nothing remotely revolting about it. The Jerusalem mikvah I visit is spotlessly clean and attended by wonderfully warm, caring women. It amazes me how someone can be so open minded to the customs and personal practices of other cultures, yet feel such disgust and contempt for their own people’s traditions. Before disparaging other intelligent, educated women, perhaps you ought to consider that we find our own value in the mikvah, independent of what any man (rabbi or husband) says about it. Mikvah observance is my choice. Why do you feel the right, or the need, to attack the personal choices of other women?

I'm not attacking anything. MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION IS THAT they are grubby places and I'd never go to one - they are akin to public baths. Why do you think that's an attack? It's an opinion. Women, if they feel the need, can dip themselves in the sea as well, a much better option, if one feels inclined to 'cleanse' oneself. Personally, I don't feel that a dip in a public bath will cleanse me. I have a bathroom at home and body wash. I prefer that, AND I shower for myself, not for a man to think I'm clean.

Seek out, and read, Mikveh, or Jewish Ritual Immersion, stories on the web written by modern Jewish women. There seems to be a resurgence in Ritual Immersion by today's modern Jewish women and some web sites have been established by women telling of the joy they have found in this ancient ritual. One of the sites I found related stories by Secular through Orthodox. Secular Jewish women who take part feel it's a way of connecting more with their Jewish roots. Religious Jewish women feel it's something special between themselves and God. Christians can understand this ritual as being similar, but not equivalent, to Christian Baptism. Christian Baptism is done once. Jewish Ritual Immersion is done more than once. John the Baptist was encouraging Jews to undergo the Ritual of Immersion during his ministry as he prepared people for Jesus' Ministry. (Note that it's recorded that Jesus went through Ritual Immersion, by John, just before the start of His Ministry.) It's not necessary to actually go to a Mikveh if you are concerned about the cleanliness of the facilities. Ritual Immersion can be done in the ocean, or other bodies of water. Do some research to find out which bodies of water you might use and the specifics of what needs to be done. It sounds like a beautiful ritual that benefits many women and should not be dismissed out of hand. Here's a link with more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh

I despise all religions for the BS they foist on humanity, so you'll have to find some reverend on your own. To me, the mere implication that a woman's natural rythms make her unclean is an insult to God. The belief that dunking, sprinkling and/or immersion do more than get you wet, clean, or relaxed is no different than believing in transsubstantiation, immaculate conceptions or being rewarded with X # of virgins for dying, while killing infidels. If we were meant to run after the Pied Piper du jour, why did God give us a brain and the power to reason? In other words, you did answer my question.

Dear M. Hartley, No offense but you do not quite understand the point. The "insult to God" according to Torah is joining in sexual relations during menstruation. Because gentile people used to take baths once in a blue moon, and it was common during middle ages to wipe with left and eat with right (as even the moslems were commanded to do), Judaism ritually mandated some cleanliness laws. That includes washing hands after waking up, before eating bread, after bathroom. Mikvah after period was simply meant as ritual cleaning to a woman before having an intercourse (since she might not take a bath for another month). But between me and you, if I sleep with a woman and find blood on the of my .... I will probably never talk to that woman again, never mind if it is a "natural" cycle or not. And I'll prob'ly spit in her face too.

So you hate Christianity too. The flood of anger towards a ritual that has no impact on your life, you have just as many issues regarding tolerance and open mindedness as the "primitive religions" you despise because of your oh so superior intellect. You claimed to be asking an "honest" question but it seems to me that you are just looking for an excuse to spew hate like Talula.

Attacking a ritual which in no way affects your life is petty and hurtful. And in denying our agency in choosing to observe this ritual of our own volition, you and other posters here are attacking and demeaning women who use the mikvah. I don't go to the mikvah for the sake of my (secular) husband's opinions. I do it for myself, and for my own commitment to G-d. The assumption that I must be trying to please a man is simply insulting. Many people (myself included) feel anger towards Israel's rabbinute, religious coercion and haredim... That doesn't justify the contempt that you and many posters feel towards the ritual itself, and by extension, the women who CHOSE to observe it.

If you'd actually spit in the face of a woman who was trusting enough to be intimate with you, you clearly have a serious problem with anger. The Sages say that anger is a form of idolatry, because G-d loves peace. The prescription for contacting ritual impurity is to take a mikveh and wait a certain time period before resuming duties that involve holiness. Do you know the prescription for idolatry?

That middle age stuff makes sense, but that's no longer valid in this day and age and should fall into the category of common hygiene rather than religion. As for your comments WRT intercourse with a menstruating woman, let this be a hint: If she acts and talks like she'd find you more attractive than usual with a pair of scissors protruding from your eyeballs, run as fast as you can :-)

I don't waste my emotions on hate. I hear tell that's very detrimental to one's well-being. As a matter of fact and except for the misery they create for so many people, religions are a constant source of amusement for me. Regardless of which Good Book I've read, nobody's God could keep things straight from one chapter to the next. Worse yet, in these books, He/She seems to have no problem with every atrocity His/Her creations inflicted on each other in, what else, His/Her name. When things get a little too outlandish and confusing, here come cadres of self-appointed experts on God, who not only don't agree with each other, but add to the overall confusion with more contradictions. In 13+ billion years, not a single law of the universe has ever changed, yet when it comes to what God said and meant, it's been a never-ending free-for-all of change and definitely not a great reflection on an omnipotent and omniscient Creator. As a last resort and occasionally somebody will admit that God's nature is unknown and unknowable, but most of the time these experts claim to have all the answers. I simply don't understand why human beings subjugate their God-given gifts of mind and free will to whatever A, B, or C peddles instead of considering the consequences of their own behavior. All of the above being said, I will admit to a certain amount of hypocrisy. Let the weather channel mention “tornado warning” and I'll disappear into that basement, praying to every deity of which I've ever heard, inventing a few on the way down, and making promises I won't live long enough to keep. And I still don't understand a ritual bath versus a good scrubbing with soap in the shower.

Sounds like you have been frequenting the wrong baths. As a student in Germany, I. like many others, had no bath of my own, so I made use of the baths run by the municipality. These were scrupulously clean and well maintained. My favourite had a large pool, tiffany windows, Roman columns, and private dressing rooms that opened up onto a spacious poolside. It's good to have opinions, but it's better if they are supported by knowledge.