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Meaning in Mitzvot -
Lesson 73

Ritual Immersion (Tevila)

21.09.2014
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The Kitzur Shulchan Arukh discusses the various stages and aspects of immersion in chronological order: first shampooing the hair, which in earlier generations (before mikvaot had attached showers) often had to be done a day in advance, then washing the body (chapter 161), and finally the actual immersion (chapter 162). 

 

Conceptually we might prefer to approach the matter from the opposite direction.  First we would want to know what immersion in a mikveh is all about; then we would discuss why the body needs to be completely free of any interposition, and finally we would discuss why even the hair is considered part of the body.  Nonetheless, we will follow the order of the Kitzur, in some cases hinting briefly at a topic which will be developed in more depth in following chapters.

 

As we will explain in chapter 161, the entire body has to be submerged in the mikveh at once, without any interposition between body and water.  The requirement for the hair to be clean too demonstrates that the body in this case includes even the hair.  Indeed, according to many authorities the hair has independent importance equal to that of the entire body!  These opinions maintain that any obstruction on the hair is capable of invalidating the immersion, even if the remainder of the body is completely clean (Sukka 6a, see Beit Yosef YD 198:5.)  What is the special importance of a person's hair?

 

Hair is an outgrowth of our bodies and can be considered part of the body.  For this reason cutting hair or nails engenders a kind of ruach ra'ah (bad spirit) which obligates the washing of hands, as we mentioned in chapter 153.  At the same time, one's hair is not fully integrated with the body.  It is constantly growing and renewing itself, as well as falling out and being cut.  Indeed, halting this pattern of growth and removal by growing the hair, is one way in which the mourner symbolizes loss of the power of renewal (Chapter 122.)

 

FAIR VANITY

 

We might think that part of ourselves which is so external, so ephemeral, and so cosmetic is not really part of "us" – as if our hair were no more than a kind of natural wig.  The laws of mikveh teach us that the opposite is true.  This part of our body, which grows and changes, which we subject to our whims in order to frame and embellish the face, the nexus of our human interaction, has an importance at least as great as those parts of the body which are static and stable.

 

Perhaps a similar idea underlies the law that married women cover their hair – even though the hair is not considered immodest in single women (End of chapter 5.)  Before marriage, the hair is fashioned according to the woman's personal whims and serves partially as an external ornament (see Rema EHE 65:2.)  But after marriage, the woman's power of renewal and ornamentation is cultivated primarily within the family.

 

Although it is Torah law that the hair is considered part of the body for immersion, this does not necessarily obligate shampooing – it would be sufficient to examine the hair to make sure it is clean.  According to tradition, it was Ezra the Scribe who made shampooing an absolute requirement (BK 82b.)  Since several of Ezra's decrees were intended to augment the attraction between husband and wife, perhaps this rule is also partially meant to increase the wife's attractiveness to her husband on the night of immersion.

 

CHAPTER 161 – INTERPOSITIONS IN IMMERSION

 

The word the Torah uses for ritual immersion is "rechitza," which literally means "washing."  In many places, the Torah specifies that ALL of a person's flesh must be washed, implying that the whole body must be immersed and be in contact with the water  (Eiruvin 4b, Pesachim 109a.)

 

While we may think of a mikveh as a means of PURIFICATION, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan points out that it is more precisely a means of TRANSFORMATION.  A convert to Judaism must immerse, although he or she bears no particular kind of defilement.  Dishes acquired from a non-Jew do not necessarily have any tum'a (impurity) yet these also require immersion.  One early authority calls this an immersion of "renewal," and seems to imply that the immersion of a nida (ritually impure woman) shares this character  (Tosafot Avoda Zara 75b "Mayim.")

 

While purification can be a relative term – water may have varying levels of purity – renewal is an absolute.  A person ascends from immersion as a new individual.  The water has washed away his or her old status allowing a new one to emerge  (Waters of Eden.)

 

Having any part of the body covered during this process shows that there is a resistance to this transformation – there are some parts of the body we are not willing to have the water reach.  Symbolically, this represents that the person has some aspects of the old self which he or she is unwilling to transform.  Since renewal is an "all-or-nothing" process, such "hindrances" may invalidate the immersion.

 

The halakha's surprisingly extensive and detailed enumeration of the different kinds of interference - reflected in practice by an extensive and detailed examination the woman must perform before she immerses - may now be better understood.  Based on this concept of renewal, the woman's exacting examination symbolizes the minute inspection of deeds, which is necessary in order to truly make one into a new and better human.

 

CHAPTER 162 - IMMERSION

 

TOTAL IMMERSION

 

Not only must the entire body be dipped in the mikveh, as we learned last chapter, the entire body must be immersed simultaneously.  It is not enough to dip one limb after another in the mikveh. 

 

Our Sages learned this from the verse that tells us that a Kohen who is ta'me (ritually impure) may not eat sacrifices "until he washes his flesh in water.  And when the sun sets he shall be pure, then he may eat of the sacrifices" (Vayikra 22:6-7.)  Our Sages asked: "Could it be enough for him to wash himself one limb at a time? The verse says 'And when the sun sets he shall be pure,' just as the entire sun sets, so the entire body must be in the water at once"  (Sifra Emor).

 

This also is related to the concept of renewal discussed in the previous chapter.  Just as a person can't be transformed and renewed partially, so a person can't be transformed and renewed little by little.  A revolution is necessary, necessitating "total immersion."  Sunset doesn't merely diminish the amount of light we perceive, it ushers in an entirely new period of time known as night, which is the polar opposite of day – a difference of kind and not merely of degree.

 

A MIKVEH MAY NOT BE A VESSEL

 

The mikveh must be dug into the ground or built as a component of a permanent building.  A bathtub or similar moveable vessel is not a kosher mikveh, even if it is permanently attached to the ground (SA YD 201:6.)  Furthermore, the water itself can not have been drawn with a vessel, even if afterwards it is poured into the mikveh (SA YD 201:3.)

 

In many places in these essays we have explained the symbolism of a vessel.  The requirement for a vessel represents a demand for human participation and intervention.  A vessel is formed and controlled by man and contains a particular measured quantity; this symbolizes Divine influence which is then however expressed in a manner subject to our limited analysis and comprehension.

 

While the water for washing hands must be suitable for a mikveh, the washing itself MUST be done from a vessel, showing that this kind of purification requires our participation.  Washing hands is precisely NOT a transformation; it is a conscious process of purifying one aspect of ourselves.  In particular, the hands represent our contact with the outside world, so this act of washing represents a commitment to improve our acts.  Of course we need God's help to do this, and this is the symbolism of the natural water (Chapter 40.)

 

But the immersion of the mikveh MAY NOT be in a vessel.  Our Sages say "A prisoner is unable to release himself from prison" (Berakhot 5b); likewise, a person may improve some aspect of himself but not recreate his entire being.  He must immerse in natural water collected in the earth, showing that the entire process of renewal is outside of his power.  It is in the hands of God.

 

This idea is expressed beautifully by a Mishna.  The word "mikveh" means not only "gathering of water" but also "hope," and the prophet Yirmiyahu refers to God as "mikveh Yisrael," the hope of Israel (Yirmiyahu 17:13.)  Rabbi Akiva comments, "Just as a mikveh purifies the defiled, so the Holy One blessed be He purifies Israel" (end of Mishna Yoma).

 

(Indeed, some kinds of tum'a require purification in a spring, where there is no aspect of waters having been accumulated at all.  A mikveh itself is in a way an intermediate level between a vessel and a spring.  See Siddur Chabad "Kavanat HaMikveh" pg. 312, Likutei Halakhot Mikvaot 1:4.)

 

 

BACK TO THE WOMB

 

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan suggests that the mikveh is similar to a womb.  Like the womb, the mikveh is a water-filled place which envelops us, and in which we are unable to live using our own capabilities.  Even the scrunched-up posture we assume during immersion in the mikveh resembles the posture of the fetus in the womb  (see SA YD 198:35).

 

This is the most potent expression of the idea that immersion in the mikveh is a process of renewal and rebirth, when new life is granted us from a source beyond ourselves (Waters of Eden).

 

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