Mikveh

Q: Does the Mikveh have any purpose other than to make one pure?

A: The water from the Mikveh is call Mayim Hayim (living water) as it is flushed through the processes of nature.

Many people bring their new dishes to the Mikveh to ensure that they are fit to use.  Others will use the mikveh to kasher their dishes when they have become treif (unkosher).  And still others go to the Mikveh as a point of transition in their life.  It may be that they want to place a barrier between what has happened in the past and where they are headed.

Food on a Yahrzeit

Q: Why do some people serve refreshments in the Synagogue on the yahrzeit of their parent?

A: This custom is becoming less and less practiced among our people.  Yet it is an old and staid part of our tradition.  Two reasons are given for supplying food on the yahrzeit.  They are:

1.     It is an act of tzedaka.  And as is well known among our people, "tzedaka saves from death.”

2.     People say berachot over the food.  Thus the sponsor brings about praise to God at the memory of the deceased.