I need human help to enter verification code (office hours only)

Sign In Forgot Password
Home

Immersion Guide for Mikvah ChaimWomen

Immersion Guide for Mikvah Chaim

Welcome to Mikvah Chaim. Below is the process outlined by Jewish legal sources for immersion in the mikvah. Please note that you are the only one who can decide if you are ready to immerse; attendants are available as guides to support your experience. 

If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact Rabbanit Sara Wolkenfeld, the halakhic advisor to the mikvah, at 917-621-5671 or rabbanit@ohevdc.org

When immersing in the mikvah, every part of your body should be immersed in the water simultaneously. 

• Something that is both undesired AND covers a majority of your body invalidates the immersion by Torah law. This case is very unlikely.

• Something that is either undesired and covers only a minority of your body OR something that is desired and covers a majority of your body invalidates the immersion by Rabbinic law.

• Something that you desire to keep on your body and only covers a minority of your body is not a separation for the purposes of immersion. Many Ashkenazi Jewish women have the custom of removing these things anyway.

Preparation to Immerse (chafifah) 

  1. The Torah requirement is to check your entire body for potential separations
  2. The Rabbis added a requirement to clean your entire body. Here are some logistics:

 

• Take a bath to remove all dirt (can be a shower if necessary), wash all parts of body

• Wash and comb all hair

• Remove nail polish, clean and cut nails (ensuring that they look neat and there is no dirt caught underneath them)

• Floss and brush your teeth (there is a custom to not to eat meat or anything that might get stuck in your teeth the day you go to the mikvah)

• Take out contact lenses, clean eyes

• Take out earrings, clean ears and earring holes

• Blow your nose, make sure it is clean

• Shave your legs if the hair on them is undesired (it is recommended not to shave the day you go to the mikvah, but instead to do so the day before)

• Use the bathroom

• Shower at the mikvah before immersing, if the rest of your preparation was done at home

• Last step – examine your entire body for anything you may have missed (hairs stuck to skin, etc.)

Even covered or hidden parts of the body need to be checked for potential separations even though the water won't necessarily be entering them. No need to open your eyes, mouth, etc. under the water, but we follow the instructions above for ensuring those body parts have been prepped as well. 

Preparations should be done as close to immersion as possible. In an ideal situation, you would begin before sunset and continue until nightfall. If that’s not possible, you can do it during the daytime, or after nightfall if no other time is possible.

Often, women begin their preparations at home, and finish at the mikvah. You are welcome to do all of your preparations at the mikvah, or to do all of the preparations at home. The final visual check of your body should be done at the mikvah, in front of a large mirror, immediately before immersing.

Immersing in the Mikvah

Immerse your entire body, eyes and mouth closed but not clenched, arms slightly away from body, and body leaning slightly forward. The blessing is: barukh ata adonay eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav ve'tzivanu al ha'tevilah. 

The full text of the blessing is available on a laminated card in the mikvah. Typically, Ashkenazi women recite the blessing after the first dunk; many women immerse three times in total, but there are many other customs in this regard. 

The mikvah has many other prayers available to add this blessing (or to use instead if your immersion is not for niddah purposes). Please feel free to ask your attendant, or to reach out in advance, if you would like a suggestion for a different prayer. You are also welcome to use the time in the mikvah to say what is in your heart, rather than a fixed liturgy, if that is your preference.

Please be in touch anytime to let us know how we can best support your mikvah experience. 

Sat, July 26 2025 1 Av 5785