The mikvah

Quiet, private, and entirely ordinary — whatever your background, and whether this is familiar or completely new to you.

What a mikvah is

A mikvah is a pool of water built to specific requirements, used for immersion. Its best-known use is by married women each month, according to the laws of family purity. It is also used before a wedding, at the completion of a conversion, by men before Yom Kippur and at other times, and for immersing new kitchen utensils.

A mikvah is not about physical cleanliness — you arrive already clean. It marks a change of state, and it is one of the oldest continuously kept practices in Jewish life.

What a first visit is like

You come by appointment, so you will not run into anyone. There is a private preparation room with everything you need — a bath and shower, towels, and the usual toiletries. You take as long as you like. When you are ready, an attendant is there to help; she does this every night, she is not watching you, and you can ask her anything.

The immersion itself takes under a minute. Then you get dressed and go home. That is the whole of it.

If it would help to see the building first, without an appointment and without immersing, you can ask for that. People do.

Where

Questions

Ask Mussi Weinfeld directly — call 408-910-2034 and ask for her, or write to Info@chabadalmaden.com marked for her attention.

There is deliberately no form on this page. Everything else on this site drops a message into an inbox the office shares; a question about the mikvah goes to one person instead.

Preparation, step by step →
Immersing new dishes and utensils →