A Discreet Bodily Practice: The Ritual Bath
By Sophie Nizard
English
In the Jewish tradition, ritual immersion has existed throughout centuries and is currently experiencing a resurgence beyond the Orthodox environment. The polysemy of this rite allows Jews who are distant from the law to seize it and create new uses for ritual immersion revisiting its symbols and meanings and aligning it with more contemporary values and practices: consideration of the body, and celebration of rites of passage, etc. These new uses are giving rise to a religious recomposition of belief and prayer even among adherents of Reform Judaism.
Keywords
- judaism
- Mikvah
- ritual purity
- woman
- body