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August 23, 2002
Victoria gets a mikvah
Province's censors threaten documentary on censorship.
KITTY HOFFMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
It's taken almost 150 years, but Victoria's Jewish community will
finally have a mikvah. On July 22, a small group of delighted onlookers
watched as concrete was poured, under strict rabbinical supervision,
into what will become the first ritual bath ever to exist in Victoria.
The city's Jewish community began with the gold rush of 1858, and
the first Jewish organization in Western Canada was its Benevolent
Society, founded in 1859. The Jewish cemetery, still used today,
was consecrated in 1860, and the first meeting of a congregation
took place in 1862. The synagogue, Congregation Emanu-El, is now
the oldest synagogue in continuous use in Canada and one of the
oldest in North America. But despite these early provisions for
burial, tzedakah and worship, no mikvah was ever built.
"It's remarkable to me that the community built a cemetery
and a synagogue and it's taken this long to build a mikvah,"
said Rabbi Harry Brechner, the current spiritual leader of Congregation
Emanu-El. "One of the first needs of a community is a mikvah
and this will be the first mikvah on Vancouver Island."
The mikvah design and concrete pouring were supervised by Rabbi
Avraham Feigelstock of Vancouver. Brechner explained that, while
he is a rabbinical "general practitioner," Feigelstock
is a specialist, and one of Canada's premier halachic experts on
mikvaot. "We wanted someone, hopefully local, that the whole
community can feel has helped to build a halachic mikvah."
The mikvah has been a key component of Jewish life from earliest
biblical times and the remains of mikvah sites are found at archeological
excavations of Jewish settlements. From the beginning, the mikvah
has been used for symbolic ritual purification, for the elevation
of people and even material things to a higher spiritual level.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, one of the great modern commentators on mystical
practices in Judaism, called his book on mikvaot The Waters of
Eden, referring to the teaching that the so-called "living
waters" of the mikvah (the mayim chaim) connect right
back to the River of Life that flowed out of the Garden of Eden.
In the days of the temples in Jerusalem, the priests would ritually
purify themselves before performing rites and sacrifices. Both men
and women would immerse in the waters of the mikvah at various times,
including spiritual preparation for Shabbat and holidays. This practice
is still observed in many observant communities.
Since the destruction of the Second Temple, regular use of a mikvah
focused on the laws of niddah, or family purity, and Brechner
emphasized that "the holiness and power that a mikvah adds
to intimacy is very important."
He added that "the understanding of mikvah now is very different.
Women now are reclaiming the mikvah as a way of creating holiness
in time and space together."
The presence of a mikvah in Victoria will "create a space,
an opening for our community. When we have our own space, there
will be the possibility to create all kinds of new rituals for spiritual
cleansing," he said.
There is currently a growing interest in mikvah use in Victoria,
as there is throughout North America. Brechner predicts that the
community "will see a real blossoming of women who want to
be involved." He noted that there is also a real interest among
men and women to use the mikvah for a variety of purposes and "as
a way of transitioning, of readying" for a new phase in life.
Some of these possible occasions to immerse in the ritually purifying
"living waters" include preparation for a holiday or a
personal simchah, renewing after the death of a loved one or other
kind of loss, before a life transition like starting a new job,
or after recovery from an illness.
Victoria's mikvah has been designed as a meditative, contemplative
space. In keeping with the general ethos of life on Vancouver Island,
it will be as natural a setting as possible, replicating as closely
as possible the environment of a natural spring, with much plant
life.
The pouring of the concrete for the mikvah is part of the creation
of the foundation and basement for a new building being built beside
the historic heritage-designated synagogue. Long a dream of the
congregation, this new social and education centre will add classroom
and social hall space for the growing congregation. With almost
250 family members and almost 100 students in its Hebrew school,
the congregation has been cramped in its one-room shul, which has
had to serve as sanctuary, school and social hall combined. The
new building, in construction over the next few months, will provide
some breathing space for the growing community.
Fund-raising is in the final stretch to meet the overall budget
of more than $1 million. Those interested in contributing to this
historic endeavor are invited to contact the synagogue office at
250-382-0615.
Kitty Hoffman is a freelance writer living in Victoria.
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