Man in the Mikvah!
Ok, I’m probably just blowing this whole thing out of proportion, but it has come to my attention that a man passing through our town wants to make use of the mikvah in the morning before davening. While I think this is a very admirable thing for any man to do (I mean would you want to dip every day?) I can’t help but feel a little selfish/protective of our little mikvah.
Since we only have one mikvah for everything (women, dishes & men) it’s well known around our town that men should bring their own towels and we strongly suggest that they shower before dipping. But a traveler would not know that practice and since it is during the Nine Days my mind is drawing up little images of him not showering at all during this time and considering his daily dip sort of like his refresher... and all I can say is “eww.” That’s the mikvah we have to dip in too.
I asked my husband to tell him to shower and bring his own towel, but he said that it was not his place to do that, and I agree with him. It’s not his place or mine to tell a stranger what to do, but part of me wants to draw up a big sign that says “Please shower before entering” and run over and post it on the mikvah.
Am I just being a bit too mental? A bit too overprotective? How am I going to get these silly images out of my head before I have to go to the mikvah next week?
Comments
yep, know how you feel:
1. check your ph and bromine/chlorine levels for peace of mind.
2. thank your stars that he will not shower before -- he'd probably not rinse well and you'd get soap scum all over your water
Who's going to let this man into the mikvah? Could that person be asked to ensure this man is asked to shower and towel - perhaps "as per mikvah policy" - before tovelling?
Our single mikvah is used for men, dishes and women. Mens hours are in the morning. Usually, the mikvah is cleaned in the afternoon, so there's no "man residue" ;) when it's womens' hours.
There is a filter in our mikvah so that's about as "cleaned" as it gets. Every so often it is drained and scrubbed, but that is definitely not on a daily basis.
Actually my husband will be letting him in (actually... let him in, I believe he went this morning), and he said that it was not his place to tell the man to shower. I'm just going to play over and over in my mind what Rivka said "it's a holy Jew, it's a holy Jew" and I think that will be enough to deter any "icky" thoughts. :-)
Who knows, maybe the man decided to shower on his own!
ehhh..it's ok. there's probably a LOT of chlorine in there. and you know what? just remember that's a holy jew-man toiveling in there. he can only make your mikveh BETTER!