mikvah

A ritual bath Jews use for spiritual purification after a woman’s menstrual cycles, in conversion rituals and for men before important holidays. Jewish couples who observe the “laws of family purity” only engage in intercourse between when the woman goes to the mikvah after her menstrual cycle and the beginning of her next period. Contemporary Jews are incorporating the mikvah into new rituals involving major life cycle events, from graduations to divorces to adoptions.