The latest rumors we have heard are about the mikva on Dolev. As many of you are aware, under the previous City government agreement, the plan was that the mikva on Dolev would be divided, with five rooms being run as mehadrin and five under the moatza. Until now, the "right" side has not been opened. Post elections, the new agreement was made to make the entire mikva on Dolev "mehadrin" and give Lachish to the Moatza. The plan has several steps as was mentioned in comments to some previous posts we wrote. First, the mikva on Lachish will be closed, and fixed up to be much nicer. During that time there will be five rooms for the Moatza and five mehadrin rooms on Dolev. After Lachish is ready, the moatza will go there and Dolev will be "all mehadrin." In a few years when the other mehadrin mikva is ready on Luz, the moatza will trade with the "mehadrin" and swap Lachish for Dolev. Final total: 2 mehadrin, 1 Moatza.
People are now apparently trying to claim that the mikva on Dolev is closed because the Chareidi rabanim who will take it over and run it as mehadrin, are upgrading the mikva because it was not up to their mehadrin standards. This is a complete SHEKER. In fact, the work is being done under the auspicies of the Moatza Hadatit. A problem was discovered (by the Moatza) with the grouting, and while the mikva was 100% fine, they were concerned that it could potentially turn into a real problem, chas v'shalom. Therefore, the company that built the mikva, was brought back in by the Moatza, to completely redo the bor including the waterproofing. Once this was begun, the other rabanim requested to have the same work done on the "mehadrin side" of the mikva, under the assumption that they might end up with the same issue. The boros will not be one iota different than they were before. People have sent us emails claiming that we don't now our facts since we said no structural changes would take place in order to confer mehadrin status, when in fact there are changes being made. Again, that is categorically false.
The question now is, who is spreading these rumors? Are people saying this innocently or is it deliberate? We hope that now that we have clarified this, people will recognize that they need to check their facts before making insinuations or outright accusations about the Dolev mikva.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Mikva on Luz
With regard to the planned mikva on Luz:
Just to clarify, we have absolutely nothing against building mikvaos. We simply feel that any mikva that is built with a large amount of public, taxpayer money, and donations from all segments of the community, should be set up for all of the women in the community with achdus as a priority. There is no reason at all that it should be given to only one particular Rav, no matter who he is, or how nice he is. Doesn't everyone agree that the best thing would be to have a group of rabbanim that sit together b'achdus and come up with guidelines so that everyone is comfortable there? That would mean that a women who wants to fulfill the mitzva 100% properly can do so, with no extra chumros imposed upon her whatsoever, and at the same time women who want extra chumros should have that option made available as well. Women have contacted us saying that they would lke to know which Rav they will be able to turn to, if they are in fact pressured to accept more machmir "mehadrin checking," as opposed to standard Lakewood/Boro Park type checking currently provided at Lachish. Will any other Rabonim be given a say in this "community mikva"? The organizers should also insist that the mikva ladies working there should be selected based strictly on objective criteria, and not based on their head covering, or what type of schools they send their children to.
We would like to reply to an e-mail we received from "themikva@gmail.com", a person stating that he/she has been very involved with the mikva project on Luz for the past 4-5 years. This person sounds very concerned and well thought out, and we feel that with a little fine tuning of the focus to be more about achdus, and ahavas yisroel, could really help make sure that the Luz mikva will be for all the women in RBS-A. We would like to address the comments below, along with our responses.
"Another proof of the need is that the iriya themselves understand that there is a need for more rooms. We have received a grant for over 500,000 NIS, plus the plot of land. I don’t need to convince ANYONE that if there was no need, the iriya would not be giving a plot of land and a grant!!!"
Actually you do need to convince us. If they believed it was NEEDED, they would pay to build the entire mikva just like they did with Dolev and Lachish. Your logic is like saying "Obviously the iriya has decided that the the Ma'ar in RBS-A and the shopping center near Maapilei Egoz will lead to pritzus- the proof is that they aren't building them." You seem like a very tmimusdik person that tries to see the good in everything, which is very admirable, but unfortunately, the fact is that political considerations are often what drive the Iriya's decisions.
"...without RBS B or the Kirya, the mikvaos locally would never manage alone. The proof is the long wait lines on Friday night, when everyone uses the local mikvaos and nobody needs longer than 10-15 minutes, yet the wait time can go on for a long time. ... "
We have already stated that there will be 10 rooms set up as mehadrin on Dolev. Are you trying to deny that? That is double the current number (five) on Lachish. Additionally, the rooms downstairs at Lachish do not have such long lines due to all the women who don't go down there.
"....This also does not take into account that many local “charedi” women do not do a hefsek tahara on Friday night precisely for this reason. They do not wish to use the local mikvaos. And without all these women there are still long lines."
This is a very shocking statement. We knew that the constant rumor-mongering about the status of the mikva on Lachish was a very harmful thing, but ad k'dei kach?? What a terrible thing, that women would deliberately not go to the mikva at the appropriate time, due to the horrible whisper campaign about the mikva! That is scandalous. And of course it's all being done in the name of being frummer. So for those who say to us "What do you care if a Rav says don't use the mikva on Lachish?" Here's your answer. Every frum Jew should be horrified to hear that women avoid going to the mikva on time as a result of sinas chinam and politics.
Imagine if we had a group of Rabbanim from all segments of the community, who joined together to work on the mikva guidelines at all the RBS-A mikvaos b'achdus. Wouldn't that be beautiful and amazing? Although in America that is commonplace and unremarkable, here it would be a tremendous kiddush Hashem. Some people have written comments like "Welcome to Eretz Yisroel" implying that we are making a big deal about nothing. If people feel that politics and infighting are a ma'ale of Eretz Yisroel, then we have to agree to disagree. We believe that those of us who have come here from Chutz Laaretz, should hold community leaders to at least the same standard that has been set up in our countries of origin. Coming to live Eretz Yisroel should be an aliya ruchni, we should not accept a lowering in any aspect of our avodas Hashem, whether it's ben adam l'Makom or bein adam l'chaveiro.
Just to clarify, we have absolutely nothing against building mikvaos. We simply feel that any mikva that is built with a large amount of public, taxpayer money, and donations from all segments of the community, should be set up for all of the women in the community with achdus as a priority. There is no reason at all that it should be given to only one particular Rav, no matter who he is, or how nice he is. Doesn't everyone agree that the best thing would be to have a group of rabbanim that sit together b'achdus and come up with guidelines so that everyone is comfortable there? That would mean that a women who wants to fulfill the mitzva 100% properly can do so, with no extra chumros imposed upon her whatsoever, and at the same time women who want extra chumros should have that option made available as well. Women have contacted us saying that they would lke to know which Rav they will be able to turn to, if they are in fact pressured to accept more machmir "mehadrin checking," as opposed to standard Lakewood/Boro Park type checking currently provided at Lachish. Will any other Rabonim be given a say in this "community mikva"? The organizers should also insist that the mikva ladies working there should be selected based strictly on objective criteria, and not based on their head covering, or what type of schools they send their children to.
We would like to reply to an e-mail we received from "themikva@gmail.com", a person stating that he/she has been very involved with the mikva project on Luz for the past 4-5 years. This person sounds very concerned and well thought out, and we feel that with a little fine tuning of the focus to be more about achdus, and ahavas yisroel, could really help make sure that the Luz mikva will be for all the women in RBS-A. We would like to address the comments below, along with our responses.
"Another proof of the need is that the iriya themselves understand that there is a need for more rooms. We have received a grant for over 500,000 NIS, plus the plot of land. I don’t need to convince ANYONE that if there was no need, the iriya would not be giving a plot of land and a grant!!!"
Actually you do need to convince us. If they believed it was NEEDED, they would pay to build the entire mikva just like they did with Dolev and Lachish. Your logic is like saying "Obviously the iriya has decided that the the Ma'ar in RBS-A and the shopping center near Maapilei Egoz will lead to pritzus- the proof is that they aren't building them." You seem like a very tmimusdik person that tries to see the good in everything, which is very admirable, but unfortunately, the fact is that political considerations are often what drive the Iriya's decisions.
"...without RBS B or the Kirya, the mikvaos locally would never manage alone. The proof is the long wait lines on Friday night, when everyone uses the local mikvaos and nobody needs longer than 10-15 minutes, yet the wait time can go on for a long time. ... "
We have already stated that there will be 10 rooms set up as mehadrin on Dolev. Are you trying to deny that? That is double the current number (five) on Lachish. Additionally, the rooms downstairs at Lachish do not have such long lines due to all the women who don't go down there.
"....This also does not take into account that many local “charedi” women do not do a hefsek tahara on Friday night precisely for this reason. They do not wish to use the local mikvaos. And without all these women there are still long lines."
This is a very shocking statement. We knew that the constant rumor-mongering about the status of the mikva on Lachish was a very harmful thing, but ad k'dei kach?? What a terrible thing, that women would deliberately not go to the mikva at the appropriate time, due to the horrible whisper campaign about the mikva! That is scandalous. And of course it's all being done in the name of being frummer. So for those who say to us "What do you care if a Rav says don't use the mikva on Lachish?" Here's your answer. Every frum Jew should be horrified to hear that women avoid going to the mikva on time as a result of sinas chinam and politics.
Imagine if we had a group of Rabbanim from all segments of the community, who joined together to work on the mikva guidelines at all the RBS-A mikvaos b'achdus. Wouldn't that be beautiful and amazing? Although in America that is commonplace and unremarkable, here it would be a tremendous kiddush Hashem. Some people have written comments like "Welcome to Eretz Yisroel" implying that we are making a big deal about nothing. If people feel that politics and infighting are a ma'ale of Eretz Yisroel, then we have to agree to disagree. We believe that those of us who have come here from Chutz Laaretz, should hold community leaders to at least the same standard that has been set up in our countries of origin. Coming to live Eretz Yisroel should be an aliya ruchni, we should not accept a lowering in any aspect of our avodas Hashem, whether it's ben adam l'Makom or bein adam l'chaveiro.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
There is absolutely no connection between this committee and the Achdus campaign that organized the Motzei Shabbos event in BTYA. We assumed that this would be quite obvious from the text of the letter that was distributed. However, unfortunately some people were apparantly confused and we apologize for not making it more clear.
The achdus event was a beautiful event, and an admirable initiative. However, we did feel it was important to take the opportunity of reaching the large group of people gathering together to focus on achdus, in order to direct attention to the imperitive for making community-wide decisions with achdus as a priority.
The achdus event was a beautiful event, and an admirable initiative. However, we did feel it was important to take the opportunity of reaching the large group of people gathering together to focus on achdus, in order to direct attention to the imperitive for making community-wide decisions with achdus as a priority.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Challenge to Those Who Think We Are Misrepresenting the Facts
Thank you to all those who have responded so far. We've received a tremendous amount of chizuk from many people, both men and women who have read our letter and feel extremely upset about the mikvaos issue in RBS-A. Some of the people were somewhat aware of what's been going on, while others have expressed surprise at having had so little previous knowledge about all of this.
We've also gotten a fair amount of criticism from those who simply accuse us of fabricating the details of the story or of having some hidden agenda. The only goal of this committee is to try to make sure that our communal decisions are made with a focus on achdus and ahavas yisrael. In order to address those who feel that we are misrepresenting the facts, we have decided to turn to the public with a simple request. We would like to get at least one volunteer from each of the shuls in RBS-A, to go their Rav directly with the various questions we have raised so far, to get their Rav's perspective and understanding of the facts regarding this issue. Obviously, every person can and should approach their Rav with whatever shailos they have on their own, but we would like one person to be in contact with us regarding their conversation. This should of course only be done with the haskama of each Rav. We expect that the rabbanim will be glad to have an opportunity to explain their point of view. All contact people can remain anonymous.
In this way, we can all work together to hopefully improve the situation.
Some people have mentioned that they don't feel that they have a "right" to question their Rav about this issue. It really should be no different than hilchos shabbos, kashrus or taharas hamishpacha. The role of a Rav is to explain in detail all aspects of mitzvos, so that we can know why we are doing what we're doing, and improve our avodas Hashem.
Please send us an e-mail with the name of the Rav you are planning to consult about this. The email address is rbs.achdus@gmail.com.
Please be sure to ask the Rav whom you consult, about all aspects of the mikvaos issue that have been raised so far.
The Committee for Real Achdus in RBS-A
We've also gotten a fair amount of criticism from those who simply accuse us of fabricating the details of the story or of having some hidden agenda. The only goal of this committee is to try to make sure that our communal decisions are made with a focus on achdus and ahavas yisrael. In order to address those who feel that we are misrepresenting the facts, we have decided to turn to the public with a simple request. We would like to get at least one volunteer from each of the shuls in RBS-A, to go their Rav directly with the various questions we have raised so far, to get their Rav's perspective and understanding of the facts regarding this issue. Obviously, every person can and should approach their Rav with whatever shailos they have on their own, but we would like one person to be in contact with us regarding their conversation. This should of course only be done with the haskama of each Rav. We expect that the rabbanim will be glad to have an opportunity to explain their point of view. All contact people can remain anonymous.
In this way, we can all work together to hopefully improve the situation.
Some people have mentioned that they don't feel that they have a "right" to question their Rav about this issue. It really should be no different than hilchos shabbos, kashrus or taharas hamishpacha. The role of a Rav is to explain in detail all aspects of mitzvos, so that we can know why we are doing what we're doing, and improve our avodas Hashem.
Please send us an e-mail with the name of the Rav you are planning to consult about this. The email address is rbs.achdus@gmail.com.
Please be sure to ask the Rav whom you consult, about all aspects of the mikvaos issue that have been raised so far.
The Committee for Real Achdus in RBS-A
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Text of Letter Distributed at BTYA at Achdus Gathering, Motzaei Shabbos, Parshas Vayechi
בס"דT
The Committee for Real Achdus in RBS-A
We are happy that people in RBS are meeting to promote achdus! It’s wonderful when people come together to learn Torah and promote feelings of unity in our community. Whenever possible, communal decisions should be made with achdus as a primary goal. However in RBS, this is unfortunately not always the way it has been done, and a painful example of this is the issue of mikvaos.
In other communities (Bnei Brak, Har Nof, Ramat Eshkol, Sharei Chesed, Lakewood, Monsey, Boro Park, Flatbush, Kew Gardens Hills…) there is a community mikva and everyone uses it: end of the story. Why is it that only in RBS we hear “I don’t use that mikva, that one isn’t kosher enough for me, I only go to this mikva…?” The mikvaos in RBS are currently run with many chumros. The Rabbanim of RBS have been repeatedly invited to meet with the Rav Hamachshir, who has even expressed his willingness to offer optional “mehadrin-checking.” Unfortunately, it seems that there is an attitude of “if we’re not in control, we won’t be part of it” and therefore the rabbanim are unwilling to work together, b’achdus.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the actual mikvaos on Lachish and Dolev. The proof is that Lachish is currently used by everyone on Friday night. Dolev will soon be transferred over to the very rabbanim who currently say “it’s not mehardin.” No physical changes to the mikva will be made at all, just different staff will work there. It will then be magically considered “mehadrin.” Clearly most people saying "the mikva is not mehadrin" or "it's better not to use that mikva" are not in possession of the facts and do not realize that their words are promoting Sinas Chinam. However, when we go up to shamayim after 120 years, it will not help if we say, "everyone else did it too.” A community cannot claim to have achdus and not share one mikva. (Even in Bnei Brak, Chasidishe and Litvishe use the same mikva.)
Not only is the Dolev mikva with 10 rooms being given over to be run privately as “mehadrin,” but there is also a plan to build another “mehadrin” mikva on Luz, at a cost of ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Building an unnecessary mikva will not promote achdus. It is also a huge waste of money. (Let’s build a community swimming pool instead!)The writers of this letter are yeshivish people. (It is a sign of how little achdus we have that we are afraid to sign our names). We write this letter because we hope that, given all the facts, people will do the right thing.
For those who will react to this by saying or thinking: “Isn't frummer always automatically better?” The answer is that as the Satmer Rebbe, the Divrei Yoel, famously said, "Es iz zeir shver tzu zein frim, uber es iz zeir gring tzu zein frimmer." Translation: It's very hard to be frum, but it's very easy to be frummer.Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, many significant details could not be mentioned in this forum, and are available at rbs-achdus.blogspot.com or via email at rbs.achdus@gmail.com.
The Committee for Real Achdus in RBS-A
We are happy that people in RBS are meeting to promote achdus! It’s wonderful when people come together to learn Torah and promote feelings of unity in our community. Whenever possible, communal decisions should be made with achdus as a primary goal. However in RBS, this is unfortunately not always the way it has been done, and a painful example of this is the issue of mikvaos.
In other communities (Bnei Brak, Har Nof, Ramat Eshkol, Sharei Chesed, Lakewood, Monsey, Boro Park, Flatbush, Kew Gardens Hills…) there is a community mikva and everyone uses it: end of the story. Why is it that only in RBS we hear “I don’t use that mikva, that one isn’t kosher enough for me, I only go to this mikva…?” The mikvaos in RBS are currently run with many chumros. The Rabbanim of RBS have been repeatedly invited to meet with the Rav Hamachshir, who has even expressed his willingness to offer optional “mehadrin-checking.” Unfortunately, it seems that there is an attitude of “if we’re not in control, we won’t be part of it” and therefore the rabbanim are unwilling to work together, b’achdus.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the actual mikvaos on Lachish and Dolev. The proof is that Lachish is currently used by everyone on Friday night. Dolev will soon be transferred over to the very rabbanim who currently say “it’s not mehardin.” No physical changes to the mikva will be made at all, just different staff will work there. It will then be magically considered “mehadrin.” Clearly most people saying "the mikva is not mehadrin" or "it's better not to use that mikva" are not in possession of the facts and do not realize that their words are promoting Sinas Chinam. However, when we go up to shamayim after 120 years, it will not help if we say, "everyone else did it too.” A community cannot claim to have achdus and not share one mikva. (Even in Bnei Brak, Chasidishe and Litvishe use the same mikva.)
Not only is the Dolev mikva with 10 rooms being given over to be run privately as “mehadrin,” but there is also a plan to build another “mehadrin” mikva on Luz, at a cost of ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Building an unnecessary mikva will not promote achdus. It is also a huge waste of money. (Let’s build a community swimming pool instead!)The writers of this letter are yeshivish people. (It is a sign of how little achdus we have that we are afraid to sign our names). We write this letter because we hope that, given all the facts, people will do the right thing.
For those who will react to this by saying or thinking: “Isn't frummer always automatically better?” The answer is that as the Satmer Rebbe, the Divrei Yoel, famously said, "Es iz zeir shver tzu zein frim, uber es iz zeir gring tzu zein frimmer." Translation: It's very hard to be frum, but it's very easy to be frummer.Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, many significant details could not be mentioned in this forum, and are available at rbs-achdus.blogspot.com or via email at rbs.achdus@gmail.com.
More information about the mikvaos issue
QUESTIONS:
Why are many women being told not to use the mikva on Dolev and Lachish during the week?
Why is it that women are told they may use the mikva on Lachish on Friday nights, but on condition that they use the upstairs mikva?
Why do we need a new mehadrin mikva on Luz at a cost of a million dollars?
WRONG ANSWERS:
1) There is a halachic problem with the mikvaos on Lachish and Dolev.
2) The mikvaos themselves are fine, but the procedures and checking standards of the mikva ladies do not conform to halacha.
3) The mikvaos are fine, the mikva ladies follow correct procedures, but they are not frum enough.
4) The rabanim in charge are not reliable.
5) There is a shortage of preparation rooms in RBS and the community needs a new mikva.
THE REAL ANSWERS:
1) In fact the mikvaos are fine, and there are no halachic compromises or problems at all with Dolev or Lachish. The obvious PROOF is that Lachish is used now on Friday night, and Dolev will soon be handed over to be run as a private mehadrin mikva, with no changes to the physical structure at all.
2) The standard of “checking” used by the mikva ladies in RBS are exactly the same as what is done worldwide. This has been confirmed by women and mikva ladies who have been contacted in the following communities: Bnei Brak, Har Nof, Lakewood, Boro Park (Klausenberg, also used by Bobov and Satmer), Flatbush, Passaic etc. All report that checking is done EXACTLY as it's done at Lachish and Dolev. (For the purposes of this discussion, "normal" checking refers to looking at a woman's hands including nails, feet including nails, checking for stray hairs that may be on her back where she cannot see them, and asking her if she remembered to do the various things found on any standard mikva checklist.) The only difference between the other mikvaos and the ones in RBS, is that on Friday night at Lachish and Dolev women are checked as usual, while in most of the American mikvaos all checking is omitted completely on Friday night. Even though the way that women are checked on Lachish and Dolev is how generations of women were checked in Europe and America (see Tehilla Abramov's book with the haskama of Rav Elyashiv), there are some rabbanim insisting on a brand-new method which is known as "mehadrin checking." Mehadrin checking is absolutely unheard of in any of the above mentioned communities. Despite all this, the Rav Hamachshir has expressed his willingness to train mikva ladies to provide mehadrin checking to women requesting it, but the rabbonim have repeatedly rebuffed his attempts to meet in order to discuss this.
3) The mikva ladies are very medakdek, frum women but they are not affiliated with "Gimmel." Unfortunately, this seems to be the true reason that we can’t join together and have one mikva. As bizarre as this sounds, some local Charedi people have indicated that they don’t feel comfortable using a mikva with a “mizrachi” mikva lady, no matter what procedures she is trained to use. By any definition, this is base sinas chinam.
4) Here in Beit Shemesh we are lucky to have a very Chashuve rav who works for the Moatza and runs the mikvaos on a very high standard, with many chumros. He is a true “oisek betzurchei tzibur” and big talmid chacham, but not a "Gimmel person." As mentioned, there is no disagreement about the kashrus of the mikvaos themselves, so that is not the issue. The issue is POLITICS. Now that elections are over, the same rabanim who refused to meet with the Rav Hamachshir have determined that they have the power to take over at least one mikva (Dolev). It’s well known that in Poland and Hungary, before the war, when an outsider wanted to wrest control away from the community Rav, a favorite trick was to start a rumor that the mikva in town wasn’t kosher. Then all the women in town started telling their friends, “I heard the mikva’s not kosher…” leading people to question their Rav and letting a new person gain power. It seems RBS is no different.
5) At the present time, there is no shortage of mikva preparation rooms in RBS. Currently there are on average thirty women using the mikvaos each night in RBS-A. There are twenty rooms currently available. Even if the number of people doubled it would still be perfectly fine. True, there are women who during the week use the mikva is in RBS-B due to the “issues” mentioned above. However, there has been no possibility to assess the need for more than the 10 rooms that will soon be given to them on Dolev. It's hard to say how anyone could say with certainty that more rooms space is needed, or wanted, until they first have control of the Dolev mikva with ten rooms and see how many women show up. Additionally, whose decision is it what the proportion of “standard” and “mehadrin” mikva rooms should be? Women, who themselves are involved in this new mikva project, are mostly unaware that the new mikva will not even offer the option of normal yeshivish/chasidish standard procedures.
A final thought: On Friday night, women currently avoid using the lower floor of the mikva on Lachish, because they tell each other "it's not mehadrin." There is no difference whatsoever in the mikva itself. It's just that a chareidi lady is working upstairs. Please keep in mind that on Friday night to not trust a mikva lady seems like nothing less than sinas chinam. Women seem oblivious to the fact that they are being mevayesh b'rabim the very frum aidel woman as she vainly says there are rooms available downstairs, and everyone ignores her. All the women in the waiting room understand the subtexts that are left unsaid. It's as if they are saying to her, "Sorry, we don't trust you and suspect you may say kosher when we're not." How hurtful. Is she not also a human being that deserves to have a chezkas kashrus. In halacha, any woman is acceptable, so is she less reliable than an untrained woman? For those who believe that they think the upstairs mikva is better than the downstairs one, how do they explain the “boycott” of that mikva during the week.
Women who DO use the Lachish mikva during the week should know that the same rabbanim who say to only use the upstairs on Friday night, also say not to go to Lachish at all during the week. Some women who don't go downstairs on Friday night, say that they go to the regular mikvaos in other parts of Bet Shemesh during the week. This makes no sense. The rabbanim who are behind not using the downstairs on Friday nights, do not currently recommend using ANY mikva except the one in RBS-B that is mehadrin.
Let's all turn to our rabanim to ask that we have community mikvaos that are for everyone. A community that can't share a mikva has a long way to go before it can claim to have any achdus.
Why are many women being told not to use the mikva on Dolev and Lachish during the week?
Why is it that women are told they may use the mikva on Lachish on Friday nights, but on condition that they use the upstairs mikva?
Why do we need a new mehadrin mikva on Luz at a cost of a million dollars?
WRONG ANSWERS:
1) There is a halachic problem with the mikvaos on Lachish and Dolev.
2) The mikvaos themselves are fine, but the procedures and checking standards of the mikva ladies do not conform to halacha.
3) The mikvaos are fine, the mikva ladies follow correct procedures, but they are not frum enough.
4) The rabanim in charge are not reliable.
5) There is a shortage of preparation rooms in RBS and the community needs a new mikva.
THE REAL ANSWERS:
1) In fact the mikvaos are fine, and there are no halachic compromises or problems at all with Dolev or Lachish. The obvious PROOF is that Lachish is used now on Friday night, and Dolev will soon be handed over to be run as a private mehadrin mikva, with no changes to the physical structure at all.
2) The standard of “checking” used by the mikva ladies in RBS are exactly the same as what is done worldwide. This has been confirmed by women and mikva ladies who have been contacted in the following communities: Bnei Brak, Har Nof, Lakewood, Boro Park (Klausenberg, also used by Bobov and Satmer), Flatbush, Passaic etc. All report that checking is done EXACTLY as it's done at Lachish and Dolev. (For the purposes of this discussion, "normal" checking refers to looking at a woman's hands including nails, feet including nails, checking for stray hairs that may be on her back where she cannot see them, and asking her if she remembered to do the various things found on any standard mikva checklist.) The only difference between the other mikvaos and the ones in RBS, is that on Friday night at Lachish and Dolev women are checked as usual, while in most of the American mikvaos all checking is omitted completely on Friday night. Even though the way that women are checked on Lachish and Dolev is how generations of women were checked in Europe and America (see Tehilla Abramov's book with the haskama of Rav Elyashiv), there are some rabbanim insisting on a brand-new method which is known as "mehadrin checking." Mehadrin checking is absolutely unheard of in any of the above mentioned communities. Despite all this, the Rav Hamachshir has expressed his willingness to train mikva ladies to provide mehadrin checking to women requesting it, but the rabbonim have repeatedly rebuffed his attempts to meet in order to discuss this.
3) The mikva ladies are very medakdek, frum women but they are not affiliated with "Gimmel." Unfortunately, this seems to be the true reason that we can’t join together and have one mikva. As bizarre as this sounds, some local Charedi people have indicated that they don’t feel comfortable using a mikva with a “mizrachi” mikva lady, no matter what procedures she is trained to use. By any definition, this is base sinas chinam.
4) Here in Beit Shemesh we are lucky to have a very Chashuve rav who works for the Moatza and runs the mikvaos on a very high standard, with many chumros. He is a true “oisek betzurchei tzibur” and big talmid chacham, but not a "Gimmel person." As mentioned, there is no disagreement about the kashrus of the mikvaos themselves, so that is not the issue. The issue is POLITICS. Now that elections are over, the same rabanim who refused to meet with the Rav Hamachshir have determined that they have the power to take over at least one mikva (Dolev). It’s well known that in Poland and Hungary, before the war, when an outsider wanted to wrest control away from the community Rav, a favorite trick was to start a rumor that the mikva in town wasn’t kosher. Then all the women in town started telling their friends, “I heard the mikva’s not kosher…” leading people to question their Rav and letting a new person gain power. It seems RBS is no different.
5) At the present time, there is no shortage of mikva preparation rooms in RBS. Currently there are on average thirty women using the mikvaos each night in RBS-A. There are twenty rooms currently available. Even if the number of people doubled it would still be perfectly fine. True, there are women who during the week use the mikva is in RBS-B due to the “issues” mentioned above. However, there has been no possibility to assess the need for more than the 10 rooms that will soon be given to them on Dolev. It's hard to say how anyone could say with certainty that more rooms space is needed, or wanted, until they first have control of the Dolev mikva with ten rooms and see how many women show up. Additionally, whose decision is it what the proportion of “standard” and “mehadrin” mikva rooms should be? Women, who themselves are involved in this new mikva project, are mostly unaware that the new mikva will not even offer the option of normal yeshivish/chasidish standard procedures.
A final thought: On Friday night, women currently avoid using the lower floor of the mikva on Lachish, because they tell each other "it's not mehadrin." There is no difference whatsoever in the mikva itself. It's just that a chareidi lady is working upstairs. Please keep in mind that on Friday night to not trust a mikva lady seems like nothing less than sinas chinam. Women seem oblivious to the fact that they are being mevayesh b'rabim the very frum aidel woman as she vainly says there are rooms available downstairs, and everyone ignores her. All the women in the waiting room understand the subtexts that are left unsaid. It's as if they are saying to her, "Sorry, we don't trust you and suspect you may say kosher when we're not." How hurtful. Is she not also a human being that deserves to have a chezkas kashrus. In halacha, any woman is acceptable, so is she less reliable than an untrained woman? For those who believe that they think the upstairs mikva is better than the downstairs one, how do they explain the “boycott” of that mikva during the week.
Women who DO use the Lachish mikva during the week should know that the same rabbanim who say to only use the upstairs on Friday night, also say not to go to Lachish at all during the week. Some women who don't go downstairs on Friday night, say that they go to the regular mikvaos in other parts of Bet Shemesh during the week. This makes no sense. The rabbanim who are behind not using the downstairs on Friday nights, do not currently recommend using ANY mikva except the one in RBS-B that is mehadrin.
Let's all turn to our rabanim to ask that we have community mikvaos that are for everyone. A community that can't share a mikva has a long way to go before it can claim to have any achdus.
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