The Mikveh Enactment of the Alter Rebbe

The Mikveh Enactment of the Alter Rebbe is a ruling instituted by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidism. Its purpose was to establish a standard for the mikveh (ritual immersion pool) that would be not only valid according to all halachic opinions, but also filled with warm, comfortable water so that immersion could be performed with calm and composure, as Jewish law requires. This enactment is considered one of three major rulings instituted by Rabbi Schneur Zalman, and is held in high regard both by him and by leading halachic authorities throughout the generations.

Background

In earlier times, building a mikveh whose water would be warm presented serious technical and legal difficulties. Immersion therefore typically took place in natural springs, for two reasons: first, springs were halachically preferable in many respects; second, in many regions there was simply no rainfall sufficient to fill a mikveh from rainwater flowing directly into it. And of course, the continuously flowing water of a spring could not practically be heated, so immersion was performed in cold water.

Many rabbinic leaders of northern Europe — regions with harsh winters — were eager to find a way to make mikveh waters warm and pleasant, so that women would not be deterred from immersing, and so that they could immerse unhurriedly, taking time to smooth out the folds of skin as halachah requires for the immersion to be fully valid according to all opinions.

The common solution was to place a large barrel, holding at least forty se'ah (the minimum volume for a valid mikveh), into the spring. The barrel was connected by a chain to the floor of the spring so it could be positioned precisely, and water entered it through a small hole in its side — not drawn by hand. Two additional holes were made in the barrel: one to ensure it would not be classified as a "vessel" (since immersion in a vessel is halachically invalid, and water inside a vessel may be considered drawn water, which disqualifies a mikveh); a second hole, the size of a shefoferet ha-nod (a tube two fingerwidths by two fingerwidths), was made to purify any drawn water that had entered the barrel before the hole was made, by means of hashakah — connecting the barrel's water to the spring. Once the barrel was set in place and its holes properly arranged, the barrel was sealed tightly (so its water would not be considered zochalin, flowing water, which disqualifies a mikveh), and immersion was performed in it.

This arrangement drew vigorous objection from many authorities. They argued that the barrel still retained the legal status of a "vessel," making immersion in it forbidden. While the Talmud in Tractate Bava Kamma rules that a vessel which was fixed into the ground before being fashioned into a vessel may be permitted, many decisors held that this principle applies only to the disqualification of drawn water — not to the separate prohibition of immersing in a vessel, which is derived from a verse in Torat Kohanim:

Just as a spring is in the ground, so too a mikveh must be in the ground.

Furthermore, many authorities maintained that the barrel could not be considered a case of "fixed first, then fashioned," since it was not embedded in the ground at all — it hung suspended in the spring's water. The preeminent posek of the generation, the Chasam Sofer, ruled publicly that these mikvehs were invalid even after the fact.

Against this backdrop, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi instituted a new type of mikveh — one that would be valid according to all halachic opinions. This mikveh was adopted by many communities across Europe, was accepted by all the leading decisors without objection, and even the Chasam Sofer gave it his endorsement, describing it as an especially fine and meticulous enactment.

The Enactment

The enactment works as follows. A barrel is constructed in such a way that it will never carry the legal status of a "vessel" — a status that creates multiple halachic problems beyond the issue of drawn water, since a mikveh must be situated in the ground itself, not inside a vessel.

The four walls of the barrel are fashioned separately from its base. The base is then perforated with a large hole — the size of motzi rimon, meaning the equivalent of three pomegranates pressed together. (There is a dispute among the early authorities about whether this means the hole must be large enough that three pressed pomegranates could pass through it, or whether it is simply a descriptive reference to the type of pomegranates that grow in clusters of three.) According to the Alter Rebbe's calculation, this measurement is approximately one tefach (handbreadth) by one tefach. With this large hole in its base, the barrel — even after its walls are joined to the base — never acquires the status of a vessel.

The base of the barrel is fitted precisely to its walls, with no gap around the edges through which cold spring water might enter and defeat the entire purpose of the enactment.

Next, a large plank of wood is fixed firmly into the floor of the mikveh using iron nails — which causes it to be considered part of the ground itself under halachah. The base of the barrel is then attached to this plank, sealing the large hole from below. This seal does not give the barrel the status of a vessel, because the sealing is accomplished by the lower portion — the plank — which is itself part of the ground and not part of the barrel. From the barrel's own perspective, it still has a large open hole; the hole is blocked only by what is halachically the ground.

After the barrel is in place, lime is poured into the pomegranate-sized hole, and a watchman is posted to ensure no drawn water enters the barrel. The mikveh is then allowed to fill naturally — without anyone drawing water — until the barrel contains at least forty se'ah of valid water. As the water enters, the lime hardens and seals the hole completely. Once forty se'ah of valid water are present, drawn water may be added without disqualifying the mikveh — according to all halachic opinions.

Halachic Advantages

• In this construction, unlike the older barrel arrangements, the barrel is connected to the floor of the spring. It is therefore treated by all opinions as a case of "fixed first, then fashioned" — meaning it does not carry the status of a vessel, its water cannot become drawn water, and immersion within it is permitted.

• The hole — the size of motzi rimon — was made in the barrel's base before the barrel was joined to the spring floor, and even before it was connected to the mikveh at all. At no point, either before or after assembly, did the barrel independently acquire the status of a vessel. Only after its base was joined to the plank — which itself is part of the ground — was the hole sealed, and that sealing came entirely from the ground side, not from the barrel.

Halachic Implications

The leading authorities of subsequent generations identified several broader halachic rulings to be derived from this type of mikveh:

• Water entering the barrel from the spring passes through the small holes in the barrel's walls, and also gradually cycles through them over time. This raises a potential concern: the water might be classified as zochalin — flowing water — since water must be ashborin (collected and still) to be valid for immersion. Despite this cycling, the barrel is considered halachically valid, because the movement is zechilah she'einah nikheres — a flow so slight as to be imperceptible. This appears to confirm the ruling of the Rashba that the disqualification of flowing water applies only when water moves rapidly and visibly, like a river, not when it seeps through a small crack.

• The walls of the mikveh in this enactment are held in place by iron nails securing the base. In contemporary mikveh construction, authorities have debated whether a mikveh built of concrete reinforced with iron rods is valid. The concern is with the principle of havayaso al yedei taharah — a mikveh must be formed through materials that cannot receive ritual impurity, and iron is one of the vessels that can become impure even without an interior cavity. The Alter Rebbe's mikveh suggests that when the iron serves merely to reinforce and support the walls — rather than constituting the walls themselves — there is no problem of havayaso al yedei taharah.

Enactments of the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the Tzemach Tzedek — grandson of the Alter Rebbe — added several enhancements to these guidelines:

• According to the original enactment, the wooden plank sealing the barrel from below is connected to the floor with thick nails. The Tzemach Tzedek ruled as an additional stringency that the plank should be fastened to the floor with four nails, while the portion connecting to the barrel (containing the pomegranate-sized hole) should be held with only two nails — so that if the barrel were ever lifted, it would not detach from the plank.

In Our Time

With the development of modern technology, this method is no longer necessary. It is now possible to install a heating system inside the mikveh itself that warms the water without disqualifying it — the water is not introduced through any vessel and does not become drawn water.

In Chabad Chassidism, the fifth Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom DovBer Schneersohn, instituted a different enactment with the goal of building a mikveh that could be heated, that could have its water replaced, and that would avoid any concern about the mixing of drawn water with rainwater through hashakah (connecting). This was accomplished through the arrangement known as the "bor al gabei bor" (a pit above a pit) — in which the immersion pool rests directly above a lower pit of rainwater, allowing them to be connected in the most meticulous manner without their waters intermingling.

Sources

• Rabbi Yirmiyah Katz, Mikveh Mayim, vol. 1, "A Mikveh According to the Enactments of the Alter Rebbe."
• Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levin, Tikkunei Mikvaos According to the Enactments of Our Rebbes — the enactments and instructions of the Chabad Rebbes.