Empowering Women. Strengthening the Jewish Home

Mikvah is an ancient tradition central to Jewish life. For millennia, Jewish couples have upheld the laws of taharat hamishpacha, which requires mikvah immersion for women and frames the intimate relationship of a couple. For many couples -- and women specifically -- keeping these laws can at times be challenging, or worse, meaningless. As with any ancient ritual that we wish to embrace as part of our tradition and perpetuate, we must imbue meaning into its observance, addressing the gaps between halakhic rulings and our emotional reality. For mikvah to be relevant to today’s woman, the institution must positively reflect the status and stature of women, enhance our physical, spiritual and emotional well-being, and be welcoming and available to any woman who wishes to make use of it. The Eden Center recognizes that taharat hamishpacha and mikvah impact the entire family unit. We seek ways to empower women and families in their intimate lives, to create space and legitimacy for conversations about intimacy and related issues, and to help each Jewish woman find her own place in this special female tradition. The Eden Center’s ability to name, give space to, and address the challenges of mikvah use, while simultaneously holding fast to tradition, is why our mission is so imperative. Eden creates printed resources, and runs professional training and community programming which provides knowledge to women and couples about their health, their sexual lives and the observance of laws around mikveh/niddah at every stage of the life cycle. Our flagship Mikvah Attendant Training Program leverages the unique position of attendants as communal resources to spot signs of domestic abuse, and to help raise awareness about physical and mental health issues. In 2018, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs, prompted by our lobbying and inspired by our results, made changes on a policy level to include women's health and crisis issues in the training of all future mikvah attendants. Our expertise and online and in-person programs are increasingly sought by communities globally. To date, our programs have reached over 16,000 women directly and another 87,000 indirectly, including participants from all over the world -- Argentina, Australia, Europe, North America, South Africa, England and Israel. With your help, we can ensure that mikvah remains an institution that enriches our lives and traditions -- for women as individuals, for couples and families, and for the community as a whole.