Our Healing Waters issue caught a backsplash from the likes of Country Yossi, Water's Edge Magazine, Tzvi Freeman, and seekers of waters of wellness.
Hi,
I enjoy receiving your newsletter. I would like to reprint the M Factor with the hot mikvah research from Dr Josh Bakon. I think our Heimishe readership would enjoy it!
Thanx, Country Yossi Fine with me as long as you print the byline I sent you. - AG
Dear Dr. Gotfryd, We email our online Mikvah newsletter "Waters'Edge" each month to approx 1,000 observant Jewish women. We'd like to know if we may reprint some of the articles in your current edition of Convergence. Of course, we would credit you in the manner you wish. Pls get back to us at your earliest convenience. Thank you in advance.
Sincerely, Yocheved Z.
Waters'Edge Magazine
www.mikvah.org
Sure. Just make sure to include an acknowledgment and a link. - AG
Aryeh,
You need to check into this, but I believe the takana [halachic enactment] of the Alter Rebbe was that hot mikvaos are permissible in general. Shabbos is another issue.
- Tzvi F.
Thanks for the correction Tzvi. Although I haven't seen it in black-and-white yet, the concensus of those in the know at the mikvah is that you are right. If so, I guess all the mikvah-going ladies of the world have something to thank him for! - AG
Hi Arnie,
I have read some about the healing power of water. I put the kabbalistic blessing (word) for healing on the water I drink. I don't know if I am doing the right thing, but no one has given me any guidance. Also, how do I get the Rebbe's water? I am still in chemo and recovering from Brain Cancer.
Thank you, Gwen D.
Greetings,
Are those healing waters still available..if yes, how do you obtain them? Thanks for the info.
S. Minanel.
Ladies, your common question first. I don't know who else has the Rebbe's water, but I know that I do. Just let me know where you are and take care of the cost of sending a package and I'll send you some by express post.
Gwen, regarding your putting a kabbalistic word for healing on the water you drink, I don't know what you are referring to. If you are thirsty and you are Jewish, you should drink the water with the blessing "Baruch atoh A-donai E-loheinu melekh haolam shehakol nihyah bidvaro." This blessing invokes all the kabbalistic energies within and beyond the cosmos. It refers to how the Creator brings us and the whole universe into existence continuously ex nihilo through his word. The Hebrew word for word and the Hebrew word for thing are one and the same. Information creates reality. That's why the kabbalists so much emphasized the power of divine names and the names of angels and so on. Words are powerful. If you are not Jewish, consult a competent authority in Jewish law as to whether you could say this blessing. If you don't know one, let me know and I'll find out and get back to you. If you are taking the water for its healing properties only, the blessing is not said. But you could make a personal prayer, according to how your heart moves you in speaking to G-d in whose hands all our destinies lie. With the Rebbe's water, I always advise people to take on some additional deed in the realm of goodness and kindness with which to welcome Moshiach. This is the appropriate gateway in our times for all our divine service. One more thing, you may want to fax, email or call your name in to the Rebbe for a blessing so he can intercede on your behalf, and this can be done many different ways. One way is to send a letter to the Rebbe which will be read at his gravesite. Here is a link.
I hope this helps, AG
Shalom Aleichem, Aryeh.
I hope you and your family are well. Read Dr. Backon's letter to you with interest, but it seems incomplete. Why does he not make any reference to women? According to his theory, it would stand to reason that only the men would benefit from the daily immersion in a hot mikvah. Even if the women's Mikvahs were hot (and they are not)would a Tevilah once a month have a beneficial effect? What implications does this have in general - that it is worthwhile to sink down into a hot bath once a day to fight heart disease? Dr. Backon does not cite temperature requirements or frequency of needed immersions. I also didn't get the connection to the turmeric-white pepper-ginger-cheese (why cheese?) medicinal concoction to Mikvah or why he mentions it at all.
Be well. Toby K.
Toby,
You are quite right that his research refers specifically to men. Many medical studies are done specifically on one sex or the other so this is not out of the ordinary. Both the specific health risks and the daily hot water immersion are gender-specific so he was reasonable in studying the issue in the way he did. And would a daily hot bath help cut the risk of heart disease for women? I don't know but it stands to reason, although I am not aware of any specific studies on this. His note did mention frequency and temperature, the hotter the better and daily is great. About his last point, the spicy concoction prior to immersion, the purpose of that is to prime the body to comfortably tolerate higher water temperatures. AG
|
