Published: 5 July 2019
Last updated: 5 March 2024
IT IS A RELIGIOUS requirement for all married Orthodox women to go to the mikveh, or ritual bath, at night seven days after their period has finished. It is a way to spiritually purify themselves.
While some women in the Jewish community might take issue with the need to "purify" themselves for their husbands, it has great emotional significance for many others.
A woman will traditionally go to the mikveh for the first time just before her wedding and will continue to go every month until she stops menstruating.
In Israel, where around 750,000 women go to the mikveh each month, charities are taking the initiative to train the attendants who work there to look out for signs of cancer or domestic violence so they can sensitively direct women to find help.
They are also encouraging mikvehs to put up posters for breast cancer awareness, as well as domestic violence, so that they can take steps to help themselves.
FULL STORY 'I spotted a lump when preparing for my ritual bath' (BBC)
