Episode 5: Open the Gates!

Tales of the Unbound

Love the opening song? Check out Pitchu Li by Jacob Spike Kraus.

[1] Miriam talks about what a Mikvah looks like in traditional communal spaces. If you haven’t yet checked out Mayyim Hayyim, we’re so excited for you to discover it. There’s a video-guided tour with details on how to prepare and where to find local places to immerse near you. You might also like ImmerseNYC or you can DIY your mikvah with some great resources from Ritual Well. Also, there’s a neat storytelling venture called “Mikvah Stories” through Mikvah.org if you want to hear personal accounts. If you’re mikvah curious, call up your local mikvah and talk to them about it. Look into mikvah training at Mayyim Hayyim, or head down to your local living water and offer your own ritual.

[2] Mikvah baths in Temple times were critical to the sacrificial culture. They provided purification rituals before entering the sanctified areas of the Temple. There are 200 mikvah baths in the old city of Jerusalem that date back to the 2nd century, 50 of which are around the Temple Mount. Read more about it here.

[3] Our ancient texts have all kinds of regulations and directions on how to build a mikvah. Here is a great study resource from the book “Gray Matter” by Chaim Jachter if you want to get waaaay into the details.

[4] We know you want to see some Mikvah pop culture clips!

2003 Sex in the city with Charlotte’s conversion, Season 6 episode 3

2012 Oprah in Brooklyn studying the ultra-orthodox culture

2015 Sex in the City, with Cindy’s conversion Season 3, Episode 13

Transparent, Off the Grid, Season 1, Episode 6 and Season 3, Episode 9

Weeds, “Red in tooth and claw” Season 8, Episode 5

[5] Miriam talks about how much water needs to be in a mikvah. A whole tractate in the Mishnah called Mishnah Mikvaot deals with how much water, when and how to immerse, and contingencies. It also has different modes for measurements than we do now, hence why Miriam says “40 se-ah,” which is roughly 575 liters. A “se-ah” is a unit of measurement from the Bible that we think is somewhere between 7-12 liters. The BDB gets more precise, stating that a Se-ah is 1/3 of an ephah, which is 12.148 liters. Regardless, it’s a lot of water that needs to allow for your entire body to submerge.

[6] Want to know more about the procedure for a bris? JewBelong.com has a nice set of explanations and even a printable booklet to accompany the ritual. This is also a quick and sweet video about a bris. Here’s some information about Tipat Dam and it’s role in Conversions. And finally, if you want to see how the Reform movement talks about Tipat Dam, here you’ll find archives of responsa (legal decisions based on case studies) around ritual circumcision.

[7] Circumcision?!?!? No thanks! There are also plenty of resources out there for Jews and Jews by choice who are anti-circumcision. It’s not for everyone, it’s a choice. Here’s an article about the “circumcision debate” with links to many articles. Also, there’s an alternative that people are doing with Hatipat Dam with a drop of blood from the heel.

[8] Here is the link to the Trans Halacha project on circumcision through SVARA that Miriam mentions. It also has amazing resources for gender transition in the mikvah and trans approaches to conversion.

[9] The Shehechianu Prayer (Lex Rofeberg beautifully sings our version) is sung or said at times of deep gratitude, when experiencing something for the first time, to mark a positive lifecycle moment, and when seeing a friend after a prolonged period of time.

[10] Ari and Josh chose very traditional books for their community: Midrash Raba and the Mishnah. These are also sets that would be included in traditional Jewish libraries.

[11] Miriam mentions the story of opening the gate in Brachot 28a. For a deep dive into a great analysis, listen to Dan Libenson and Benay Lappe study this text on the Oral Talmud.