Friday 31 August 2018

The Mikveh and its Significance


After re-organising the labels on this blog, I realised that until now I have not yet written anything in the Taharos (ritual purity) category. As I am also currently going over the laws of Mikvaos (ritual baths), this post is the natural addition.

Background

Nowadays ritual purity and the use of the mikveh is a relatively small part of religious life. True, women need to dip once a month for about a quarter of their lives (from marriage till menopause, minus most of pregnancy and breastfeeding). Those of us who visit Har HaBayis (see Building the Beis Hamikdash) also immerse ourselves prior to each visit. We all use the keilim mikveh when we buy new food utensils. Some have the custom to go to the mikveh at other times, not required by halacha. But all of this pales into insignificance compared to what was and will be necessary when we have a Beis Hamikdash.

In those times, all are required to purify themselves three times a year, when coming to Yerushalayim to celebrate Yom Tov.[1] Kohanim need to be pure almost constantly (even when not serving in the Beis Hamikdash), in order to eat t'ruma. Even non- kohanim need to purify themselves extremely frequently, whenever coming into contact with t'ruma and challa (separated from dough).

This was no simple task. Illustrating just one example, the Mishna discusses how one immerses a bed in a mikveh in order to purify it.[2] This is not an example of Chazal discussing rare cases, but a regular occurrence in those days. In the future, each building (if not each apartment) will almost certainly need to have its own mikveh. In partial preparation, it makes sense for us to understand a little bit about what this entails.

Mayim She'uvim

The hardest obstacles to overcome when constructing a mikveh are the interrelated issues of mayim she'uvim (literally 'drawn water') and tevila b'keilim (immersion in vessels). The basic idea is that the water must gather naturally, not transported in utensils. The source and nature of these halachos are subject to fundamental disputes, which we must explain.

Chazal infer that mikveh must be similar to the alternative mentioned in the same passuk, a spring. As springs are created 'by the act of Heaven,' a mikveh must also be.[3] Thus a mikveh must consist of water not gathered in vessels, usually rain water that collects. However, in a seeming contradiction, the gemara tells us that this requirement is a rabbinic one.[4]

Rashi and others therefore explain that a mikveh consisting entirely of mayim she'uvim, or a majority of mayim she'uvim, is invalid on a Biblical level. The gemara deals explicitly with a case where the majority of the mikveh was made up of rain water. In this case, adding three lugin (about a litre) of mayim she'uvim before the mikveh has the required 40 se'ah (about 320 litres/0.32 m3) of rain water, invalidates the mikveh on a rabbinic level.

The Rambam and others disagree. They say that although the law of she'uvin is derived from a pasuk, this is only an asmachta (literally support, the term refers to an allusion or code found by the rabbis which is not the main meaning of the pasuk). Thus according to Biblical law, even mayim she'uvim are kosher for a mikveh.

According to this view, the obvious question is why did the rabbis feel it necessary to forbid the use of mayim she'uvim? Tosfos explain that even according to Torah law, immersion in water held in a vessel (and not in the ground) is invalid. The rabbis disqualified all water that had been in a vessel, to prevent the possibility of someone making a mistake and thinking that any gathering of water can be used.[5]

The Rambam does not agree with this. Firstly, he writes that according to Torah law one could achieve ritual purity by immersion in any gathering of water (including in a vessel).[6] Furthermore, it is clear from his words that the problem with immersion in a vessel stems from the issue of she'uvin, not the other way round.[7] According to this, we need to explain the reasoning behind the law of she'uvin differently.

Even according to Tosfos, we need to try to understand why the Torah invalidated immersion inside a vessel. Likewise, according to those who maintain that a mikveh consisting entirely of mayim she'uvin is invalid according to Torah law, we need to attempt to find the reasoning behind this.

Ritual and Spiritual Purification

More generally, we need to ask why the Torah obligated a person to immerse in a mikveh at all. The answer to this is indicated clearly by Chazal in many places, who compare ritual purification to spiritual purification. To quote one famous example from the Mishna:

אמר רבי עקיבא: אשריכם ישראל! לפני מי אתם מיטהרין מי מטהר אתכם? אביכם שבשמים, שנאמר (יחזקאל ל"ו) "וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים וטהרתם." ואומר (ירמיה י"ז) "מקוה ישראל ה'" מה מקוה מטהר את הטמאים אף הקדוש ברוך הוא מטהר את ישראל.

יומא פרק ח, משנה ט

Says R' Akiva: Happy are you Israel! In front of who are you purified and who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven, as it says "I will throw upon you pure water and you will be purified (Yechezkel 36). It also says "Hashem is the Mikveh of Israel"- just like a mikveh purifies the ritually unclean, so too HaKadosh Baruch Hu purifies Israel!"

Yoma 8:9

The Chinuch explains that the idea of purity through water is based on the fact that the world was all water at the beginning of Creation. Thus one who immerses himself entirely in water can imagine that he is being 'created' again, and renew his ways. The rabbis invalidated water in vessels, or water that had been in vessels, as one who immerses in this water cannot imagine that the whole world is water.[8]

Solutions

As it is not practical to expect people to go to a spring, lake or sea every time they need to purify themselves, and a mikveh consisting entirely of rain water will quickly become unsanitary, creative solutions are necessary.

In my mind, the number of solutions available for the problem of mayim she'uvim is one of the strongest indications that the invalidity is entirely rabbinic. If the real source for the requirement of 'creation by Heaven' is the comparison to spring water, it would have been necessary to find additional sources for all the leniencies.[9] If, on the other hand, the rabbis made this requirement for the reason given by the Chinuch, we have a simple explanation. Whenever there was enough of a connection to naturally occurring water, Chazal felt that the objective can still be achieved.

There are two main solutions, known as zeriya ('sowing' mayim she'uvim in kosher mikveh water) and hashaka (having mayim she'uvim come into contact with a body of kosher mikveh water). Zeriya is a concept that applies when there already is the required forty se'ah of rain water in the mikveh. Any water added subsequently does not invalidate the mikveh, even if the original forty se'ah is now a tiny percentage.

Making use of this, the water in modern mikvaos can be changed regularly. The original forty se'ah of rain water gathers in one pit, and the immersion takes place in a much bigger pit next to it. Regular tap water is released into the first pit (called the bor zeriya), and allowed to overflow (through a pipe designed for this) into the second one (the bor tevila).

However, some believe that there is a halachic problem with this method. The gemara says that although one can add a se'ah to the mikveh and then remove a se'ah from it, this is only until the majority of the mikveh (i.e. if one removes the majority of the original mikveh water by this method, it is invalidated).[10] Many rishonim say that the gemara cannot be talking about the addition of mayim she'uvim, as it is clear from many sources that mayim she'uvim never invalidates a full mikveh. Therefore, they are forced to explain that this gemara deals with the addition of fruit juice (or liquids other than water).[11]

Others write that addition of a majority of mayim she'uvim and removal of an equivalent amount does invalidate the mikveh. Although addition of any amount of mayim she'uvim does not disqualify a mikveh, if one subsequently removes water it does.[12] Seemingly, as the water in the bor zeriya is replaced regularly, it becomes invalidated according to this view.

The truth is that even among the rishonim who are stringent about removing water from the mikveh directly, there is a dispute in the case of the bor zeriya.[13] The Beis Yosef suggests a reason for this distinction, based on the explanation of the Ramban. When the water is removed directly it looks as if the kosher water is being replaced with mayim she'uvim. If we allowed this, people would think that even a mikveh consisting entirely of mayim she'uvim is kosher. When the water just spills out indirectly, this concern does not exist.[14]

Nevertheless, almost all modern mikvaos do not rely on a bor zeriya alone. They also have a bor hashaka, another pit of rain water connected to the bor tevila through a small opening. Mayim she'uvim in the bor tevila becomes kosher mikveh water when it touches the water in the bor hashaka. Due to various concerns about supervision, common practice is not to rely on hashaka alone, but together with the bor zeriya the assumption is that all concerns are covered.[15]

Preparing for the Future

The above is a description of the basic stringencies adhered to by mikavos nowadays, although the truth is that there are many more. As large communities all use the same mikveh, legitimate effort is made to make sure it will be kosher enough for everyone.

However, in an era when the number of mikvaos needed will increase dramatically, it is hard to see how there will be enough space and money to provide for all these stringencies. It may well be necessary to 'take sides' in the various halachic disputes, and in preparation it is crucial that all these issues are studied in depth.


[1] See Shemos 23:17, 34:23; Devarim 16:16.  Although women are exempt from coming to the Beis Hamikdash, they must come to Yerushalayim and take part in the celebrations (Yerushalmi Chagiga 1:2). According to the Rambam (Chagiga 1:1) this means partaking of the celebratory sacrifices, and even according to the Ra'avad who argues, taking part in the celebrations would have been impractical while ritually impure (although obviously not much could be done about it if it was the wrong time of the month).
[2] Mikvaos 7:7
[3] Sifra to Vayikra 11:36
[4] Bava Kama 67a, Bava Basra 65b
[5] Bava Basra 66b (דיבור ראשון). See Aruch HaShulchan, Yoreh Deah 201:14 who asks why one drasha in the Sifra is a real one, and one is only an asmachta (the two drashos appear in the same passage).
[6] Hilchos Mikvaos 4:1
[7] Ibid. 6:1-14. However, as yet I have not found anyone else who makes this obversation about the view of the Rambam. Many acharonim state that according to all opinions, immersion inside vessels is invalid according to Torah law.
[8] Mitzvah 173
[9] I believe that the possibility that all these leniencies (or some of them) were passed down orally to Moshe Rabbeinu (הלכה למשה מסיני) can be discounted, as there is not a single hint to this in the words of Chazal.
[10] Yevamos 82b
[11] See for example Rashi there. This is also the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 201:24).
[12] Rambam Mikvaos 4:7; Ra'avad, Sefer Ba'alei Hanefesh, Sha'ar 1. The Tashbetz (quoted by the Beis Yosef and Shach Y.D. ibid.) says that it is not correct to 'take sides' in this dispute, i.e. we should make sure that the mikveh is kosher even according to the stringent view.
[13] The Rambam (ibid. 4:6) is lenient in this case; the Ra'avad (ibid.) is stringent. The Chazon Ish (Yoreh Deah siman 123, paragraph 3) argues that the ruling of the Tashbetz not to 'take sides' does not apply here.
[14] Beis Yosef Yoreh Deah siman 201, based on Ramban Bava Basra 65a.
[15] Although the Chazon Ish (ibid. 4-5) argues that the bor hashaka does not help anything, as the water in it also gets replaced eventually. Furthermore, he claims that it can actually make the mikveh more problematic due to the measures necessary to ensure sanitation. Therefore he advises relying on the bor zeriya alone.

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