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164
ing hot waterthe rabbis, the dayan [judge], the
shochetim [ritual slaughterers] the sofrim
[scribes], and a small number of young yeshiva
students who left their studies for a short while
and came to fulfill this duty of immersion in the
mikveh.
I still remember the great effort that my friends
and I, students of R. Yankl Feiveles of the Rizhiner
shtibl, made to go into the hot mikveh and try to
stay there for at least 10 minutes. This was a
challenge and test of our endurance, by which we
wanted to prove to ourselves that we could do the
same as the adults who went in "heel to toe" and
came up after a while, their bodies shiny and red,
their hearts beating very quickly.
Going into the hot water of the mikveh took
patience; little by little, and slowly, we would
dip our toes in, careful not to move the surface of
the water, which would cause a painful sensation
on the skin. When we managed to get in up
to our necks, we stood stock still and didn't utter
a sound, because of the choking sensation we
felt around our necks; we listened to our heartbeats
and quick pulses, which we felt all through
our bodies.
Starting on Thursday afternoon, the bathhouse
began to show signs of life: thick smoke
would rise from the chimney, then from the
windows and holes in the roof, until it looked
like the whole thing would soon be engulfed in
flames.
Itche, the attendant, and his non-Jewish
helper, Ivanche, started stoking the boiler that
heated the stones above and around it, from
which on the following days steam would rise; he
began heating the water in the large copper tanks
and filled the round vats and other vessels, all in
preparation for the following day.
The bathhouse was open to the general public
on Fridays, starting at noon. The smoke and
steam that arose from every corner could be seen
from far away and were a signal to everyone in
town, reminding them that "today is the eve of
the Sabbath, and you'd best hurry to do this
mitzvah an d not miss the opportunity."
A unique odora mixture of smoke, steam,
and the sulfur of the water from the pump,
together with the smell from the cesspool and the
LUBOML
sewer that passed by on its way out of the citycarried
for miles, and people living in nearby
streets smelled it most!
A mixture of soundsshouts, yells and
strange sorts of howling as the result of practical
jokes, could be heard coming from the bath that
day; and on top of it all, "sounds of victory" that
the lashers (schmeisers ) made to encourage themselves
while massaging and scrubbing down their
"patients," who were spread out on the top stairs,
surrounded by enough steam and vapor to cramp
their lungs.
The masseurs would "bring them around"
every few minutes by sprinkling cool water from
the barrels onto their steaming bodiesand hence
the shouts to Ivanche to keep up his work in
bringing cool water in buckets from the pump into
the bath.
Poor Ivantche, he was torn in two; on one
hand he had housewives waiting to get water for
their work at home, and on the other the terrible
screams of the bathers, "Water, water!" accompanied
by knocking on the windows that overlooked
the pump. The sounds of the schmeisers pouring
more water on the stones to increase the steam
that rose from all corners of the building could be
heard for miles.
This is how the bathhouse looked inside: in
the entry way, on the southeast side, Itche the
attendant took the entrance fee, the same from
everyone, and for an additional fee supplied a
bundle of twigs and a clean, wooden bucket.
From there you came to a large spaceopen to
the cross-windsthat divided the southern area,
which served as a dressing room, from the northern
section, the bath itself.
Another door on the west side of this open
area led to the western section, where the women's
mikveh was. There were wide benches in the
dressing room along the walls, and the shelves
above served as seats for those undressing and as
a place for their clothes. This is where important
conversations were held between those finishing
their ablutions and those about to begin.
In winter, the bathers shortened their stay in
this area because of the chill, hurrying through
the open area, which was bitter cold and through
which the winds blew from all sides. The door