[Sca-cooks] Mrs Levy again

[Avraham haRofeh]

> > Most ritual uncleanlinesses can be obviated by prayer, sometimes
fasting,
> > and immersion in a ritual bath called a mikveh. There is no "fee" to use
the
> > mikveh in most cases, but the community as a whole is responsible for
its
> > maintenance and support.
>
> Oh. So this is not just a bath taken in a particular way, but it must
> be done in a particular spot? Or type of spot? A blessed/holy spot?

I'm fuzzy on the details. I don't believe that there is anything
particularly holy about the location BEFORE the mikveh is built. There are
very specific rules on size and shape, and how the water therein is to be
collected, but I don't know them, and don't have a Concordance handy to look
them up.

> > Women are required to bathe in the mikveh monthly
> > after their courses; men only need to visit a couple of times a year
unless
> > they do something that makes them unclean.
>
> I guess I don't see the reason for this aversion/fright? to the
> normal monthly cycle of things, but it certainly seems to be
> common to a lot of religions, both in the Middle Ages and now.

Probably because it was believed that anything that could bleed that much,
month after month, and still live had to be demon-touched (or the
equivalent).

Avraham

****************************************
Avraham haRofeh of Northpass
     (mka Randy Goldberg MD)
OBTag: Men are more sentimental than women. It blurs their thinking. -
[Lazarus Long]