This is the Forward’s coverage of mikvahs, Jewish ritual baths.
Mikvah
The Latest
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Fast Forward Mikveh Attendants Made Optional Under New Israeli Rule
JERUSALEM — The Religious Services Ministry in Israel has officially adopted a regulation that makes it optional for women to have an attendant present during mikvah immersion. The ministry and Israel’s Chief Rabbinate agreed to the change in June in a filing with the country’s Supreme Court in response to a suit filed last year…
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Fast Forward Beth Din Will Face $100M Suit by Barry Freundel Mikveh-Peep Victims
The suit, which was filed originally in December 2014, also names as defendants Freundel’s former synagogue, Kesher Israel
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Life Israeli Lawmaker: ‘I Will Wage War’ to Prevent Funding Non-Orthodox Mikvehs
JERUSALEM — A Knesset committee approved funding to build mikvehs for use by non-Orthodox Jewish movements in Israel, but its chairman promised a “world war” in allowing the plan to advance. The Finance Committee allocated 10 million shekels, or more than $2.6 million, for the project on Monday, The Jerusalem Post reported. The four mikvehs…
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Israel News Religious Rift Deepens Between Israel and Diaspora
Chances for de-escalation between Israel’s religious establishment and non-Orthodox movements in Israel and North America appear increasingly unlikely as new developments pile atop old ones adding layers of injury. Today, events seem to be careening toward a perfect storm. In recent weeks alone, the government has made clear that it intends to renege, for the…
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Opinion After Orthodox-Only Mikveh Law, Time To Rein In the Israeli Rabbinate
As a woman who underwent Orthodox conversion, I was livid when I read about the controversial Israeli bill that was formally passed into law July 25. The bill allows local Orthodox rabbinates to ban non-Orthodox conversions in publicly funded mikvehs. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party may have introduced this piece of legislation, but in…
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Community New Israeli Mikvah Ruling Deepens Jewish Communal Divide
Last February, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that State run Mikvahs, which operate under the supervision of Orthodox rabbis, can no longer prevent Reform and Conservative converts from using them as part of their conversion process. On July 25th, the Knesset overturned the Supreme Court’s ruling and passed a law forbidding non-Orthodox converts from using the…
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Fast Forward Israeli Law Bars Using Mikvehs for Non-Orthodox Conversions
A controversial bill that would enable local Orthodox rabbinates to bar non-Orthodox Jewish conversion ceremonies in publicly funded mikvehs was passed in the Knesset. The bill — introduced by the haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party and opposed by many North American Jewish leaders — passed into law on Monday night, the Jerusalem Post ….
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Life Don’t Blame Mikveh Attendants for a Broken System Created by Men
I’m not big on manicures. This is in part because my life is filled with things like typing and piano, so manicures make my hands feel pretty but useless – good for appearances and bad for actually creating stuff – and in part because cuticle-cutting is painful and often infection-inducing. One advantage of infrequent manicures…
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