“The traditional rules regarding the
construction of a mikveh are based on those specified in classical rabbinical literature.
According to these rules, a mikveh must be connected to a natural spring or
well of naturally occurring water, and thus can be supplied by rivers and lakes
which have natural springs as their source. A cistern filled
by the rainwater is also permitted to act as a mikveh's water supply so long as
the water is never collected in a vessel. Similarly snow, ice and hail are
allowed to act as the supply of water to a mikveh no matter how they were
transferred to the mikveh. A river that dries up upon occasion cannot be
used because it is presumed to be rainwater and not spring water, which cannot
purify while in a flowing state. Oceans and seas for the most part have the
status of natural springs.
"A mikveh must, according to the classical regulations, contain enough
water to cover the entire body of an average-sized person; based on a mikveh
with the dimensions of 3 cubits deep,
1 cubit wide, and 1 cubit long, the necessary volume of water was estimated as
being 40 seah of water. The exact volume
referred to by a seah is debated, and classical rabbinical
literature specifies only that it is enough to fit 144 eggs; most
Orthodox Jews use the stringent ruling of the Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, according to which
one seah is 14.3 litres, and therefore, a mikveh must contain
approximately 575 litres. This
volume of water can later be topped up with water from any source, but if there
were less than 40 seahs of water in the mikveh, then the addition of 3 or
more pints of
water that was at any time intentionally collected in any vessel or transferred
by a human, would render the mikveh unfit for use, regardless of whether water
from a natural source was then added to make up 40 seahs from a natural source;
a mikveh rendered unfit for use in this way would need to be completely drained
away and refilled from scratch in the prescribed way." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh)
Since the Rabbi’s prohibited the adding of drawn water to
the mikvah, there is a need to define exactly what are the vessels considered
vessels specifically for drawn water. Obviously any vessel that intentionally collects
water and that water is added to the mikvah is considered a drawn water vessel.
The Gemara goes on to clarify the status of the water when there is no intention
for the water to be collected; nevertheless, the vessel collects water. May
that water be added to the mikvah to reach the minimum of 40 seahs?
“To this point, several, but not all, of the eighteen
decrees were enumerated. The Gemara asks: And what is the other decree?
The Gemara answers: As we learned in a mishna in tractate Mikvaot:
One who places vessels under the drain pipe in order to
collect rainwater, the water collected in the vessels is considered drawn
water. This is true both in the case of large vessels which, due
to their size, do not become impure, and in the case of small
vessels. And even if they were stone vessels and earth vessels and dung
vessels, made from dry cattle dung, which are not considered vessels in
terms of ritual impurity and do not become impure at all, this ruling applies.
The water in the vessels is considered drawn water in all respects. If it
leaked from those vessels and flowed into a ritual bath that had not yet
reached its full measure, forty se’a, and filled it, the water invalidates
the ritual bath. The Gemara adds that this halakha applies both
in a case where one places the vessels beneath the drainpipe with
premeditated intent to collect the water flowing through it as well as
in a case where one forgets the vessels there and they are filled
unintentionally; this is the statement of Beit Shammai. And Beit Hillel deem
the ritual bath pure, i.e., fit to complete the full measure of the
ritual bath, in a case where one forgets the vessels. Rabbi
Meir said: They were counted in the attic of Ḥananya ben Ḥizkiya and
Beit Shammai outnumbered Beit Hillel. And Rabbi Meir said that Beit
Shammai agree with Beit Hillel that in a case where one forgets
vessels in the courtyard and they fill with rainwater, the water is pure.
Rabbi Yosei said: The dispute still remains in place, and Beit Shammai did
not agree with Beit Hillel at all.
“Rav Mesharshiya said: The Sages of the school of
Rav say: Everyone agrees that if he placed the vessels in the courtyard at
the time of the massing of the clouds, a sign that it is about to rain,
just before it began to rain, then the water in the vessels is impure,
unfit, as he certainly intended that the water fill the vessels. If one placed
the vessels at the time of the dispersal of the clouds, and then the
clouds massed together, and then rain fell and the vessels filled with the
rainwater, everyone agrees that the water is pure. It is fit to
fill the ritual bath to its capacity because at the time that he placed the
vessels under the drainpipe his intention was not that they fill with
rainwater. They only disagreed in a case where he placed them at the
time of the massing of the clouds, and the clouds dispersed, and
rain did not fall then, and only later the clouds massed again,
and rain fell and filled the vessels. In that case, this Sage, Beit
Hillel, holds that because the clouds dispersed after he placed the
vessels, his thought to fill the vessels with water was negated.
The vessels remained in the courtyard due to his forgetfulness, and when they
filled afterward it was not his intention that they fill. And this Sage,
Beit Shammai, holds that his thought was not negated, as his
original intention was ultimately fulfilled despite the delay in its
fulfillment.” (Sefaria.org translation)
This is not an esoteric discussion with no practical usage.
Many people still use the mikvah today. An observant woman will use the mikvah
in order to have intimate relations with her husband (more about that we study
massechet Nidah). A bride will go to the mikvah before her wedding. My friend
David Goldstein went to the mikvah before his wedding just like his future wife.
Men will go to the mikvah before Shabbat and holidays to prepare themselves
spiritually to enter those holy days. Converts will immerse in a mikvah as part
of the ritual conversion process. Traditionally observant Jews will immerse brand-new
metal and glass utensils before using them.
My wife Judy was one of the founding mothers of the
pluralistic mikvah Mayyim Hayyim in Boston. Mayyim Hayyim encourages men,
women, children to use the mikvah for new, exciting, and spiritual ways. Judy is
one of many people who have contributed many new rituals that people can take
advantage of beyond the traditional ones listed above. Follow this link for a
list of all these possibilities to add new Jewish path of spirituality in your
life. https://www.mayyimhayyim.org/ceremonies/
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