TELL Magazine August - September 2019

{BENEATH THE WATERS}
Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio
I stood in the vast yet sheltering
room, its domed ceiling calling me
to look at the stars beginning to
twinkle in the night sky. I muted
the lights so a soft, gentle glow
enfolded the room and I took my
first tentative steps into the waters.
The natural rock was smooth
beneath my feet as I walked down
the 7 steps into the waters of the
mikvah. The waters were warm
and soft as they wrapped around
me and I floated for a moment,
looking at the stars, being present. I
felt awash with emotion which was
unexpected, unexplained and yet
right. I read the words on the card,
focused on the prayer, the intention:
“May this immersion help me move
from what has been and may my
heart be open to what is yet to come.
When I emerge from these “mayyim
hayyim” these living waters, may
I be filled with renewed energy
and a sense of direction in my
life’s journey. May God grant me
strength, courage and peace. Amen”
I say the Hebrew blessing and drop
beneath the waters, staying for as
long as I can below the surface.
I read the second prayer:
“In gratitude I celebrate the blessings
in my life. I honour those who have
helped me along the way and give
thanks for their supportive presence. I
appreciate the journey that has brought
me to this moment. Thank you God
for the many gifts I experience in my
life, for the good I have known.”
I slip beneath the waters
again, thinking and feeling an
overwhelming sense of gratitude for
the people, the blessings in my life.
I see those I love in a rolling picture
book as their faces flash before me,
I feel their arms surround me with
the waters. I read the final prayer:
“O source of life, keep me in
awe of sunrise and sunset. Keep
me in wonder of things grand as
mountains and oceans. Let me find
joy in ordinary days. Let me embrace
happiness, celebrate life, praise You.
May the blessings of joy, love, kindness
and compassion be with me always.
May I find peace and wholeness as
I continue my journey in gratitude.
Baruch Ata Adonai, eloheinu Melech
ha’olam shechecheyanu vekiimanu
vehigianu lazman hazeh.”
I float suspended beneath
the surface of the waters
once more and then
I lie there, floating,
peaceful, blessed.
TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING
This was my first
experience of mikvah
which was not in the
ocean. It was powerful
and beautiful and for no
traditional reason. I was
visiting Mayim Hayyim,
a community mikvah
in Boston as part of my
research into mikvah,
hoping to learn as much as I could
to see if we could create our own
mikvah here. This was the last place
I went before I returned to Australia
and they casually said “will you want
to immerse in the mikvah today?”
I was shocked and taken aback. I
had no reason to be at the mikvah,
no purpose other than research
but then I decided in the spirit of
research, I should actually go into
the mikvah. Then I suddenly realised
that the only mikvah I had ever
experienced was the ocean. I had
never been into a mikvah like the
one I was proposing and hoping
to build here. I said I would like to
go into the mikvah, never thinking
for a moment it would be anything
other than an academic exercise,
“research.” But I was reminded again
that mikvah is never academic, it
is powerful, it is transformative,
even when you don’t expect it.
Mikvah has had a traditional
purpose but recently we are
rediscovering the power of this
ancient ritual and we are creating
new opportunities beyond the
traditional, to embrace its healing,
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