Thursday 12 May 2016

halacha - How is one allowed to say a bracha in a Mikvah?


There's an argument (In Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah siman 200) if women say their Bracha in the Mikva itself. According to the Sefardim, they do it clothed (but can do it with water up until the neck), while according to the Rama, they do it after dipping.


There's a discussion about Liba Roeh es HaErva in the Nosei Keilim. But how is one allowed to say a Bracha in there at all? A Mikvah should have the law of a bathhouse, where one can't say a blessing at all!



Answer



The Kessef Mishneh (Hilkhot K'riat Sh'ma 3:3) quotes Rabbenu Manoah who cites an opinion that the reason not to make blessings in a bath house is because of the presence of naked people. Accordingly, in a ladies' mikveh, one should similarly not make a blessing. However, Rabbenu Manoah himself states that the reason not to make blessings is that the water is dirty given the usage of hot water, but in a mikveh that uses cold water there would be no problem.


Accordingly, R. Ovadya Yosef rules in Taharat HaBayit (Vol. II: 15:1) that the blessing should not be recited in modern day mikvaot, since the water is warm.


However, Rabbenu Manoah doesn't elaborate why exactly a mikveh would get so dirty form using hot water (perhaps they effectively cleanse the women of dirt?), and modern day mikvaot stay quite clean, in spite of hot water, so it seems likely that according to Rabbenu Manoah, it would be permissible to make a blessing in a mikveh.


Furthermore, R. Qafih (notes to Hilkhot K'riat Sh'ma there: 13) notes that Berakhot (3:5) discusses reciting sh'ma in a mikveh. He explains that immersion in a mikveh is brief, unlike a bathhouse in which naked people congregate.


Additionally, see Birkat Moshe by R. Aviad ben Shalom Ashual (11:9: pg. 366).



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