newsminer.com

BOZEMAN, Mont. — In one of the least Jewish states in the country, a traditional Jewish group working to revive religious observance has built a mikvah, a ritual bath for spiritual purification.

The bath opened several months ago in an extension built on the Bozeman home of Rabbi Chaim Bruk and his wife, Chavie, who came here with the Hasidic movement Chabad Lubavitch.

Chabad sends couples around the world, including to remote spots with tiny Jewish populations, to cook kosher dinners for travelers, teach rituals such as lighting Sabbath candles and lead classes on Judaism.

As a result of the Bruks’ work, Montana now has what Chabad says is the only contemporary mikvah in a vast area that includes Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Bruks expect to draw Jews from outside the state, including tourists.

It’s “a milestone for Jewish life in Montana,” Rabbi Bruk said.

Jewish law requires married women to immerse in the mikvah for ritual purity after menstruation and a period of abstaining from sex. Brides are expected to immerse before their weddings. The bath can also be used as purification as part of converting to Judaism.

Outside of the small Orthodox Jewish community, many American Jews stopped using the mikvah, partly out of objections to its perspective on women. However, in recent years, more Jews have been rediscovering traditional practices, and the ritual bath has had a renaissance.

The Bozeman suite includes a jetted bathtub and a shower, both of which a woman uses before entering the mikvah, which is tiled in shades of brown. High-quality soap and shampoo, plush robes and thick towels are provided.

“You give women their own space where they can connect with God,” said Rabbi Bruk.

Justine Phelps, an Orthodox Jew, used to drive 400 miles from Montana to Utah for monthly immersion. Sometimes she flew.

She and her husband moved last year to Montana from Irvine in Southern California.

Before choosing Bozeman as their new home, the two software engineers scoped out the Jewish presence. Phelps used the mikvah throughout her eight-year marriage.

“Of all the places we could have gone, we needed to be in a place with a Jewish community,” said Phelps, 38. “We asked the right questions and did all the research,” and in doing so learned a mikvah was planned.

Advocates for practicing the ritual say it strengthens marriages as wives and husbands monthly go through periods of physical separation.

“For a time you’ve been in your own personal space, and now you are back in a closer relationship with your spouse,” Phelps said.

Bruk jokes that with the opening of the mikvah, Montana has become “a new hot spot for Jews.”