Mikveh calendar for tech-savvy women

Rebbetzin Rivkah Bloom established a website last year in response to requests for help from women learning about mikveh observance. Recently, a Hebrew version of the website was released, as well.

The website was created especially for modern Jewish women on the go, making it easier than ever to observe Jewish Family Purity laws.

“The Hebrew version has taken off by leaps and bounds,” said Bloom, who acquired both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering respectively from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). It took four years to develop the technology for the mikveh calendar, together with a colleague from MIT.

“We are getting hundreds of new Hebrew users a day,” continued Bloom. “Some of them had knowledge of the English site and were just awaiting the Hebrew site. Others are finding out about it now through friends and news articles.”

And as news of the site continues to spread, it looks as though English and Hebrew will soon be joined by other versions, as well. “We now have requests coming in asking us to release a French, Spanish, and Russian site.”

Ritual cleanliness

The website guides women through imputing all information pertinent to their cycle, and tracks and calculates dates, times and patterns. It then generates email and text message reminders before a woman’s expected date of ovulation, as well as when her next visit to the mikveh should take place.

The mikveh, a ritual pool, is relevant primarily to married women, though single women can also benefit from its observance, as well as from the website. The purpose of the mikveh is ritual cleanliness, not physical cleanliness, as the woman must thoroughly cleanse herself before submerging herself in the mikveh waters.

The Jewish Laws of Family Purity prohibit a man from touching his wife while she is menstruating. According to Talmudic scholars, this period of separation should last at least 12 days, as during this time, the woman is considered "niddah" (ritually impure).

Typically, a woman enters the mikveh once she has completed menstruation, signifying that she is now pure.

Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life