We're very excited to begin this new blog.  And "Into the Jewish Pool" seemed appropriate because our first topic will be the Mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath.


There's only one in the East Bay, in Oakland, at Beth Jacob, a mikvah that is shared by the entire Jewish community in that area, thanks to Beth Jacob.  


Our photos above show Rabbi Judah Dardik, who is the Beth Jacob rabbi, and who gave us a tour of the mikvah earlier this year.  The photo to the right of him, shows the little anteroom where friends, rabbi, and family can wait while you're in the mikvah room; your privacy is assured.  You will be saying 3 blessings while you completely immersed, and the rabbi sticks his or her head into the room to make sure you say the blessings, and that your entire body is completely immersed immediately afterward.  


You can see the mikvah is small, narrow, but is wide enough and deep enough to make sure anyone can get into it.  There are steps leading down.  And the water is warm when you step into the body of water.

Have you gone to the mikvah?  Are you curious about what it looks like, what it feels like, who can use it?  For the purposes of this blog, we'll only be talking about the mikvah in terms of the ceremony attached to conversion.  Let us know what you think.