Intimate relationships between husband and wife are sacred, and the observance of Mikvah is essential to forging an eternal matrimonial bond. The laws of Family Purity form the structure that imbues holiness into the relationship.

The laws of Family Purity mandate that husband and wife refrain from intimate contact during the menstrual period, and for seven days following. At the end of this time, she immerses in the Mikvah, and husband and wife may resume intimate relations.

Married women immerse on a monthly basis, according to their menstrual cycle calendar. Brides immerse in a Mikvah shortly prior to their wedding day. A woman who has reached menopause requires only a single immersion for the rest of her marriage.
The Mitzvah of Family Purity is entrusted to the woman. When a woman immerses in the Mikvah, she brings herself in immediate contact with the source of life, purity and holiness – with G-d. During immersion, she transcends her physicality, connecting to her spiritual self within. She thus becomes a link in an ongoing tradition that has spanned generations, connecting Jewish women around the world and throughout history.

Mikvah is a time for introspection and renewal, and this unique moment of special closeness to G-d is an auspicious opportunity for her to express her prayers and requests, for herself, her family and her loved ones.

Each month a woman’s body prepares for the possibility of conception. The uterine lining is built up - rich and replete, ready to serve as a cradle for life - in anticipation of a fertilized ovum. The presence of potential life within fills a woman’s body with sanctity, since the power to nurture life is essentially a quality of the Divine. It is in conception, pregnancy & birth that G-d’s involvement is distinctly manifest.

Menstruation is the shedding of uterine lining, ending the possibility of developing this new, independent life. When stripped to its essence, a woman’s menses signals the death of potential life. With the departure of this potential, the woman becomes impure. Impurity is neither evil nor sinful, neither degrading nor inferior, nor is it something tangible. Rather it is a spiritual state of being - a descent from a peak level of holiness. This impurity is commensurate to the immense potential for holiness that a woman possesses, the G-dly power to create a new life, as if ex nihilo, within her body.

In the beginning, there was only water. A miraculous compound, the primary source and vivifying factor of all sustenance and, by extension, all life. Yet Judaism teaches that it is more than this. For these very same attributes, a source of energy and sustenance, are mirrored in the spiritual. Water has the power to purify: to restore, sustain and replenish life to our essential, spiritual selves.

Immersion in the Mikvah waters, following the requisite preparation, causes an essential transformation. Whilst bare, her most natural state, submersion in these waters causes an elevation into spiritual transcendence, becoming totally encompassed by the metaphysical and removed from materialism and worldliness. In doing so, she reconnects with the Divine, fulfilling her soul’s desire to achieve oneness with the source of all life, to return to a primeval unity with G-d. Immersion indicates the abandonment of one form of existence to embrace one infinitely higher. Immersion in the Mikvah is not only a purification, revitalization and rejuvenation, but also, and perhaps primarily, a rebirth.

Marital intimacy is of the holiest deeds one can perform. Being a true embodiment of G-dliness, it bridges the gap between the physical and the Divine, allowing man and wife to partner with the Creator in introducing a new soul into the world.

The Torah regards marriage, the partnership between husband and wife, with the highest reverence. Jewish marriage is the unification, and thereby the sanctification, of man and woman. The Sages note the Hebrew word for man, ‘Ish’, is practically identical to the word for woman, ‘Isha’, aside for one letter unique to each; ‘Ish’ contains the letter ‘Yud’ whereas ‘Isha’ the letter ‘Hey’. When combined, these two letters form the name of G-d A-lmighty. By conducting one's marital life according to the guidelines of Family Purity prescribed by the Creator, man and woman bring about a unification of G-d’s name. The merging of man and woman takes on an entirely new form, as G-d’s blessings are bestowed on the couple, imbuing the structure of marriage with the transcendence of the Divine.

G-d designed a cycle of union and separation between husband and wife, and Mikvah stands at the vortex of this cycle. The love between husband and wife thrives on withdrawal and reunion, separation and coming together. This course of regulated intimacy is the only way to foster an environment conducive to a truly G-dly matrimony.

Observance of Family Purity is a means of rejuvenating the marriage and recommitting to each other, stoking the flame of mutual love. It allots time when the husband-wife relationship is expressed without physical intimacy. Liberation from the interference of physical closeness allows for deeper reflection on their kinship, focusing on the enhancement of the emotional, psychological and essential bond.
Upon completion of the Mikvah process, they re-approach intimacy refreshed, rekindled and refocused, fortified with a deeper appreciation for one another. The subsequent reunion following the period of abstinence, reflection and rededication, holds the highest potential for marital sanctity.