A Mikveh To Call Its Own

The new community mikveh at Young Israel of New Rochelle is designed to make women feel comfortable and welcome. “This rounds out the community in terms of what an Orthodox family would need. It’s five minutes away from any woman in the community,” says Rabbi Reuven Fink.

The new community mikveh at Young Israel of New Rochelle is designed to make women feel comfortable and welcome. “This rounds out the community in terms of what an Orthodox family would need. It’s five minutes away from any woman in the community,” says Rabbi Reuven Fink.

by Merri Rosenberg
Special To The Jewish Week

With its cozy waiting room, seven beautifully appointed tiled preparation rooms tinted with a soft, earth-tone palette that suggests Jerusalem stone, flattering lighting, extra-thick doors, soft music and even a private makeup area, the new mikveh at Young Israel of New Rochelle resembles a luxurious day spa.
And that is no accident.

“It’s a very personal thing, coming to a mikveh,” said Daphna Brainson, a professional interior designer and Young Israel of New Rochelle member who headed the design committee for the new mikveh. “The goal was to make this an amazing experience.”

As Rabbi Reuven Fink, religious leader at YINR, said, “This rounds out the community in terms of what an Orthodox family would need. It’s five minutes away from any

woman in the community.”

The New Rochelle community has waited a long time for its own mikveh. Previously, most members used the ones in Riverdale or the nearby Young Israel of Scarsdale, but as a thriving, increasingly younger congregation of 340-plus families, many thought it was well past time to have its own.

“I’ve been living in this community since 1992 and the issue of having a mikveh has been juggled since then,” said Marvin Sperling, who led the mikveh committee and oversaw the project from concept and design through construction and fundraising.

It helped that the congregation, which moved into a new building last spring, decided to keep its old building. A crawl space underneath the former sanctuary offered a logical space for the new mikveh. It took more than two years of planning and fundraising for this $1.3 million project before the mikveh was dedicated in December by Vivian and Stanley Bernstein in memory of their mothers, Adele Bernstein and Renee Weiss.

The mikveh committee had ample opportunity to visit other mikveot and decide how to offer a state-of-the-art mikveh to women. One factor that seemed important was to construct the mikveh in the most environmentally sensitive way possible, with compact fluorescent light bulbs in the fixtures as one example.
“We wanted to make it a place that’s really beautiful and inviting,” said Bernard Michael, a member of the mikveh board. There are two preparation rooms with Jacuzzis, and generously-sized preparation rooms specifically designed for brides. The mezuzot throughout the mikveh, in a sophisticated copper and brass design, are from the artist, Gary Rosenthal.

And with modesty and privacy a significant concern, Brainson pointed out that “it’s very private. Two of the bathrooms connect directly to the mikvehs.” To make the experience as accessible as possible, in each mikveh the prayers for immersion are displayed clearly, just as the preparation instructions are posted in the bathrooms.

Similarly, said Sperling, “The convenience is big. We’re a no-appointment mikveh. What’s nice here is that it makes a woman feel that she wants to go to the mikveh. You have to have it so people feel comfortable when they go.”

Echoing Rabbi Fink, who stressed that the mikveh is “not only for the Jews of Young Israel, but community-wide,” Bernard Michael added, “We’ve designed this to be open to everybody. We would love it if people would come. We’re not looking to take away from other mikvehs.”

Besides the Young Israel of New Rochelle community, women have been coming from the Bronx and Riverdale, Dobbs Ferry, Scarsdale, Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Harrison, among others
“It’s not only serving our shul, but also other communities,” said Dr. Sperling. “Everybody’s invited.”
For more information about the mikveh (located at 1228 North Ave., New Rochelle), including fees, membership and hours of operation, go to www.mikvahofnewrochelle.org, or call (914) 740-7754.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization