What is a mikvah?

Answer

A mikvah in the Hebrew Bible is a gathering or collection of water. The term came to refer to a pool of water used for ceremonial cleansing. One who is impure or ceremonially unclean before immersion will become pure or ceremonially clean after immersion in a mikvah. A person had to be ceremonially clean before entering the temple. Ceremonial cleansing is mandated in the Bible on various occasions: women after childbirth or their monthly cycle and men after sexual discharge (Leviticus 15:19-30) and after contact with a dead body (Numbers 19:18-19). Clothing and utensils could also be cleansed by ritual immersion «And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. », (Leviticus 11:32). Subsequently, ritual immersion—baptism—became part of a proselyte’s conversion to Judaism.

Any natural body of water is considered a mikvah «Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. », (Leviticus 11:36). Nowadays, mikvahs are also built in homes. A mikvah must be constructed within the home, below ground. It cannot be portable. A mikvah must have contact with natural water, so mikvahs built in modern homes will typically have one main pool filled with tap water for immersion, and a secondary pool where rainwater or water fromSome other natural source is collected. A hole between the two pools will allow the water to mix, thus rendering the primary pool suitable for ceremonial cleansing.

Today, Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed, and Reconstructionist Jews have different practices regarding the use of the mikvah, but the theme of spiritual purification and cleansing is common to all of them. Physical cleansing is not in view, as participants are supposed to be physically clean before entering the pool.

The word mikvah is from the same root word as hope, and there is some wordplay between the two in Jeremiah 17:13: “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.” (Here, mikvah is translated as “hope,” and then described as a “fountain of living water,” which was the requirement for a mikvah—naturally flowing water.)

The use of the mikvah, or ceremonial immersion, seems to provide the background for New Testament baptism. When John was baptizing and preaching repentance, those who responded were admitting that they were “unclean.” This seems to be why John objected so strongly to baptizing Jesus (Matthew 3:13-14) and why the Pharisees refused to be baptized «But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? », (Matthew 3:7). Likewise, Christian baptism would have been understood against this background. Those who responded in repentance and baptism were admitting that they were unacceptable to God and needed to be made clean (see Acts 2:37-38).

Being immersed in a mikvah was a powerful symbol that the Jews of Jes

During Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, He stated, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” «Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. », (John 3:5). This likely refers to the mikvah, a concept Nicodemus would have easily grasped. Jesus meant that to be in harmony with God, one must repent of sin (symbolized by the ritual cleansing in water) and experience a spiritual change initiated by God.

Contrary to the repeated mikvah practice in the Old Testament and among contemporary Jews, Christian baptism is a one-time act symbolizing purification. Through Christ, believers are purified once and for all, and baptism serves as the representation of this truth.