The Mikvah at the Melbourne City Baths

The Mikvah at the Melbourne Baths

The new Melbourne City Baths opened to great excitement on 23 March 1904. The design reflected the needs and architecture of the turn of the century and, to provide for the observant Jews of East Melbourne, included a Jewish ceremonial bath (Mikvah)!

Progressive reforms to Judaism date back to the establishment of the Seesen congregation in Lower Saxony by Israel Jacobson way back in 1810, when the belief that such ‘human emissions’ could render us ‘unclean’ was rejected, so for more than 200 years Progressive Jews have not usually used the mikvah for the above purposes.  However they have been used, and especially over the past generation, for the final stage of conversion to Judaism, since this is a powerful symbol of transition.

The various mikva’ot under Orthodox auspices are not usually available for use by the Progressive community, so we have had to find alternatives.  For some years, the Melbourne community used the mikvah at the Melbourne City Baths, until, some ten years ago, it suffered a structural cracking, after which we resorted to the most natural of mikva’ot, Port Philip Bay!  For reasons of privacy, comfort and safety, this was far from ideal, so we worked with Melbourne City Council and with the support of Lord Mayor Robert Doyle to complete a renovation of the City Baths mikvah which is now warm, attractive and carpeted, and complete with pictures, bath and shower.

As Progressive Jews we emphasise individual educated choice and encourage the use of any religious traditions that might help to bring God more into our lives; the mikvah has therefore occasionally been used as part of preparations for the New Year or marriage, and now that we have one available in Melbourne, it is being rediscovered by those seeking meaningful rights of passage symbols.

The Progressive Judaism Victoria office (03 9533 9930) can assist you with organising and booking the mikvah. 

The mikvah will be filled in advance, as it takes nearly an hour to fill!  We explored sending all this warm water into the main chlorinated pool system after use but it turned out to be unviable!  

When the taps are turned on, the water flows a metre along a terracotta pipe attached to the wall, before entering the mikvah.

This is a commonly employed legal fiction which is considered to have turned the water from 'drawn' tap water (invalid) into 'mayim chayim - living, natural water' (valid).

It derives from the question 'if a bucket of water is drawn water, but I tip it on the floor, when does it become natural water again?'.  The answer given is that once it has flowed a cubit along the ground, it is natural water.  The subsequent question is 'what sort of ground must it flow along' and the answer is 'ground that is absorbent' and absorbent is taken to mean that it shows the passage of the water.  Hence we use a terracotta pipe, which becomes darker (ie absorbs some of the water) as it flows along it.  Attached to the wall makes it part of (one with) the building.  Traditionally lean concrete has also been used for the purpose.

Heater and hairdryer make use of the mikvah more comfortable

                                                        Steps down into the mikvah

                                   The bath for physical cleansing.  It now has a shower 
                                  and shower curtain around it, and the area is carpeted.