LISTEN: Jewish ritual bath revived in Tasmania during pandemic

Published: 19 February 2021

Last updated: 5 March 2024

Orthodox Jewish couples in Tasmania have seen one benefit of the pandemic: the mikvah, or a ritual bath for women, that has been closed since 1988 will be rebuilt and reopened

WHILE THERE HAD been a kosher mikvah built in 1988 in Hobart, it had fallen into disrepair, and women had been traveling to Melbourne for their needs. Until covid-19, that is.

How to rebuild a facility and source the right water to fill it in just a few days?

Enter a community spanning states, and Tasmania’s only ice manufacturer (who had shut down production by this point, by the way).

LISTEN Jewish ritual bath revived in Tasmania during pandemic (ABC)

Press play to hear Rochel Gordon from the Chabad of Tasmania explain the ritual of the mikvah and the lengths they’ve gone to, to put one together during a pandemic.