Tag Archive for mikvah

Discovery of Europe’s oldest mikvah revived Sicily’s ancient Jewish communities

The discovery of this mikvah (Jewish ritual bath) was as revealing as it was serendipitous for the Jews in Syracuse. Forgotten for too long, they are coming back home.

 

An attractive island in the Mediterranean, Sicily has been a hub of migration routes for millennia. Jews are thought to have been part of the patchwork at least as early as the 1st century, after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.

The ancient mikveh baths uncovered in Syracuse (Amalia Daniele di Bagni)

The ancient mikveh baths uncovered in Syracuse, possibly the oldest in Europe. – Photo: Amalia Daniele di Bagni

At the end of the 15th century, Spain, which ruled in Sicily, expelled the Jews from its entire domain.

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Phone app: Take me to the nearest Mikvah

The Israeli GPS app Waze, now provides mikvah (ritual bath) locations. The service also contains a security ‘glitch’ that reveals Orthodox Jews who use a ‘non-Kosher’ smartphone, when they shouldn’t.

By i24news

 

The popular navigation application Waze can now direct you to the nearest mikvah – a Jewish ritual bath, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Monday.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews hold hands during a protest against their young men being called up for military service on February 6, 2014 in Jerusalem ( Gali Tibbon (AFP/File) )

Ultra-Orthodox Jews hold hands during a protest against their young men being called up for military service on February 6, 2014 in Jerusalem – Photo: Gali Tibbon-AFP/File

The service had been developed in coordination with Israel’s Ministry of Religious Services.

Now, if you are in immediate need of ritual immersion, you can type in “mikvah” on your app and be directed to the nearest one. Continue Reading »

Lost Mikvehs discovered in the Netherlands when forgotten after the Holocaust

Mikvehs were covered up & only exposed recently when members of the Jewish community in Groningen chanced upon blueprints of the building.

By

 

A Dutch Jewish organization rediscovered two ritual baths that had been forgotten after the Holocaust.

Groningen Folkingedwarsstraat synagogue

Groningen Folkingedwarsstraat synagogue – Photo: Google Street View

In reporting about the find Friday, the Crescas Jewish education institute wrote on its website that large parts of the 19th-century ritual baths, or mikvehs, were unearthed last week at a Jewish community building in the northern city of Groningen.

“The mikvehs are an exciting find,” Crescas wrote. “They are remarkably well-preserved. The marble of one of the baths was partially damaged during renovations.”

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Portuguese plumbers discover 600 year old mikvahs

This  find, in the basement of a building on Rua do Visconde da Luz, Coimbra, may be considered among the oldest mikvahs ever discovered in Europe.

By JTA

 

Plumbers fixing a water leak in central Portugal discovered what appears to be a cluster of 600-year-old Jewish ritual baths.

1of 3 -The mikvahs of Coimbra may be considered among the oldest mikvahs ever discovered in Europe  - Photo sourse:  DR/Publico.pt

1 of 3 -The mikvahs of Coimbra may be considered among the oldest mikvahs ever discovered in Europe – Photo source: DR/Publico.pt

The discovery was made earlier this year in the city of Coimbra as the plumbers were replacing the piping of an old building in what used to be the Jewish part of the Old City, according to a report Thursday by the Publico daily.

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