Siman 198, Seifim 36-48
36. The mikvah must be at least as high as her
navel by at least a zeres (a measure
that is somewhere between 9 ˝ and 11 ˝ inches.).
37. There are those
who say that it is sufficient if the mikvah
water is not deep enough to cover her entire body unless her face and body
are flat on the floor.
38. She is not
required to open her mouth to let water enter.
If she clasps her lips too tightly, her immersion is invalid. Rather,
she should have her lips meet each other in an ordinary fashion.
39. She may not
close her eyes tightly not open them excessively wide. There are those who say that if she does so,
her immersion is invalid
40. She must
have an adult Jewish woman of over 12 years and a day standing over her when
she is immersing to see that there is no hair floating on the top of the
water. If she has no one to do so or if
it is late at night, she should tie down her with a wool thread or with a band
on her head, making certain that it is loose.
She may use a net of woven threads or tie a loose garment on her hair.
41. If she has
her son on her back when she is naked and she immerses, her immersion is
invalid since there might have been dirt on the baby’s legs or hands that got
stuck to the mother, was a barrier during immersion and fell off subsequently.
42. Stones or
twigs that get stuck to the cracks in her feet are barriers
43. Bandages
and dressings that are on her “hidden places” are barriers; even though water
does not need to actually enter them, water needs to be capable of entering and
therefore they cannot have a barrier on them.
Rama – There are those who say that a woman must urinate prior to immersion if
she needs to; she also must determine whether she needs to relieve herself so
that she will not be clenching muscles that could interfere with water. She also needs to blow her nose.
44. One or two
hairs outside a wound on her head and stuck to the would, from her lower lashes
piercing to her upper lashes, or two hairs from the lower lash stuck to her
upper eyelash, are barriers.
45. She should
not immerse with the dust on her feet.
If she did so, there are those who say that it is not a barrier and
there are those who say that it is a barrier unless she wiped it or immersed in
warm water.
46. A niddah who immersed in her clothing is
permitted to her husband.
47. Various
types of lice that stick to the flesh and bite into the scalp need to be
removed with warm water and dug out with one’s fingers. If one cannot do so, it is not a barrier.
48. A niddah who immersed without intending
to, such as by falling into the water or by going into it to cool off is
permitted to her husband.
Rama – There are those who are strict and require another immersion; one should
be strict. There are those who have
written that a woman should be modest on the night of her immersion; our custom
is for women to not make known the night of her immersion by not rushing or
going through people. One who disregards
this is in the category of “cursed is one who sleeps with an animal”. Women should be careful when they leave from
immersing to meet a friend and have her be the first thing she touchs. Also she should not touch something impure or
a gentile. If she is in contact with any
of these, if she is God-fearing she will return and immerse again. See below at the end of Siman 201 whether it is permitted to put warm water in the mikvah or whether it is permitted to
wash after the immersion.
What's Going On –
Miscellaneous Issues
The exact measurement of a zeres
is a bit of a dispute among the poskim. Apparently, there are two different
measurements called zeres, one of
which is half a cubit and the other 1/3 of a cubit. Rav Wozner indicates that it is acceptable to
use the smaller measure, which would end up being 24cm, with a minimum
acceptable level of 24cm. The Chazon Ish considered the appropriate
measure to be 25cm. This measurement
obviously can’t be an exact one, since we do not raise and lower the mikvah level for each person who comes
in, but rather is based on an “average” woman.
Rav Wozner suggests that if the water is much deeper than 20-25cm, the
woman immerse herself while standing on one of the steps of the mikvah.
While there is no maximum water level, it certainly cannot be so deep that
women would be afraid to go into it.
Lying flat is preferable to crouching, since crouching creates folds in the
skin that would otherwise not be there.
Rav Wozner notes that while the halachic
requirement for a mikvah
superintendent is to ensure that all of a woman’s hair is in the water, in
practice the attendant also checks that the woman has cut her nails, that she
has no obvious barriers and that her posture during immersion is proper. In addition, the custom is for the attendant
to say “kosher” or “tahor” (pure)
when the woman finishes immersing.
On a practical level, the halacha
of the Rama in seif 48 is fairly simple to deal with, since the superintendent is
the first person the woman sees after her immersion. On another level, the Sha’arei Dora records that a woman should touch a friend first,
lest she touch a gentile, a pig, a dog or a mule or any impure item so that her
children are not ugly and likened to dogs or be as stupid as a mule or have the
characteristics of a gentile. Apparently,
the Sha’arei Dora understands that
the a woman’s first contact after her immersion is very important and can have
a profound effect on any children born as a result of that evening’s
intercourse.
There is a story about Elisha the High Priest who did not have any sons who
survived. He went before God and asked,
“Master of the world, why is it that the righteous have sons and I do
not?.” A heavenly voice announced that
it was because they acted with purity at the time of intercourse. (I’m not sure
exactly what this means; it seems preposterous to suggest that Elisha’s wife
did not go to mikvah.) In any event, he went back and told this to
his wife and they accepted on themselves to do what the voice said. One time she was immersing, came out and was
touched by a leper, then she went and re-immersed and was touched by a
pig. She again re-immersed and when she
came out she was touched by a camel and after the fourth immersion was touched
by a gentile. On the fifth, she was
touched by an uncircumcised man, on the seventh by a donkey, on the eighth by a
horse, on the ninth by an am ha-aretz
and on the tenth by an Arab. Each time
she went back and re-immersed. God took
mercy on her and said to the angel Metatron, “How long will this woman suffer?
Go and stand before this righteous woman at the mikvah entrance so that she will become pregnant tonight and raise
a righteous, holy and pure child.”
Metatron stood at the entrance; when she came out she saw him and went
to return to immerse again. He said to
her, “I am Metatron the guardian of the Inside, your distress has come before
God and He sent me to you.” She
rejoiced, went home and became pregnant that night with Ishmael the son of
Elisha, the future High Priest, who had the physical appearance of Metatron. Metatron was made the sandak for the child and apparently passed some name on to him and
whenever R. Ishmael wanted to go to the heavens, he would use the name that
Metatron had given him.
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