Information For Your Visit

  • Fees:
  • Zelle is the preferred payment method (to communitymikvah@gmail.com). We also accept cash or check (made out to "The Community Mikvah"), but we don't accept credit cards. 
    • The final step in conversion: $180.
    • Bride or groom: minimum donation $54.
    • Any other ritual purposes:: minimum donation, $36.​

Preparation For Immersion

The most important aspect of immersion is that there are NO barriers between you and the water.
Here's how to prepare and what to expect every step of the way. It's a lot, we know. But keep in mind that it's not about physical cleanliness, but rather, about holiness, so there is absolutely nothing that come between the water and your skin. 
1.AS THE TIME APPROACHES:
Shift away barriers to your interior life. Perhaps read poetry that you like, or do some journaling, or meditate on a phrase or prayer that resonates, or experience art or nature. Whatever lifts and inspires you. 
2. THE NIGHT BEFORE:
-  take a nice bath
- file your nails, remove nail polish and smooth out rough skin
- clean your ears and navel 
- take your time. Breathe. Be mindful as you get ready.
3. THE DAY OF:
- Take a shower right before you leave home. Shampoo your hair but don't use conditioner.
- You may not use makeup, lotion, moisturizer, deodorant or hair products. Bring some for later if you like.
- You will need to comb, not brush, your hair to get out any tangles. If your hair is dry when you arrive, we have a spray bottle to wet your hair. We have nice single-use combs, or bring your own. 
- We have towels and washcloths, disposable pre-pasted toothbrushes and facial cleanser. 
-Contact lenses need to come out, so bring along your lens case and solution. You can wear glasses into the pool and put them on ledge before you go underwater.
-Remove any piercings and clean the area. Remove all jewelry before immersion.
- If you'd like, bring a change of clothes, to represent your transformative experience. 

IN THE MIKVAH:
-For most rituals, you will have a witness to make sure that you're completely under the water, but you will have total physical privacy. Your witness will hold up a towel the whole time during your immersion, so all they will ever see is the top of your head. 
- Walk down 7 steps. The water is nice and warm. If you are short, just walk down until the water is just above your collar bones.
- You will face east. It's where the sun rises, a nice symbol of your new day.
- You'll immerse 3 times (your guide will show you how) and say a blessing after each dip:. The blessings are in large print on the wall. 
After #1, say the blessing for the commandment. 
After #2, take a moment for whatever comes to your heart. 
After #3, say the Shechechiyanu blessing, thanking God for bringing you to this moment.
-If you are at the mikvah to convert to Judaism, your rabbi will be on the other side of a partition to hear you make the blessings and say Amen.  
Please do not feel anxious about making the blessing. We are right there to support you with the Hebrew if you would like, word by word. Here is exactly how the blessings look on the wall: