I have always had a special relationship with the mikvah. I have used the mikvah twice for the sake of conversion (but that's another story), once as a bride before my wedding, too many times to count for niddah observance, and once for a Blessing Way ceremony during pregnancy. I love to harness the spiritual energy inherent in the mikveh immersion process to further my personal and spiritual growth.

To learn more about opportunities for mikvah use throughout the lifecycle, see the website of Mayyim Hayyim, a community mikvah near Boston, MA.

My short essay about the role of mikvah in Judaism, "Hope: Survival and Transformation," was published in Sh'ma: An Online Journal of Jewish Responsibility.

Learn More About Niddah Observance

To learn more about mikvah and niddah observance from an Orthodox perspective, visit www.yoatzot.org. Nishmat, the Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study for Women, trains women to be yoatzot, halakhic advisers, for women on issues pertaining to niddah observance. This is a big step forward for women's leadership in the Orthodox world.

Deena Zimmerman, a pediatrician who is also a lactation consultant, has written the definitive guide to niddah observance from an Orthodox perspective, A Lifetime Companion to the Laws of Jewish Family Life. I also found the chapter on niddah observance in Rabbi Haviva Ner-David's Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Toward Traditional Rabbinic Ordination to be illuminating.

Fertility Awareness and Niddah Observance

I attended a day-long seminar on hilchot niddah (the laws of niddah) given by a yoetzet. During the seminar, I was confounded to hear the yoetzet discouraging the use of Fertility Awareness in favor of hormonal birth control, simply because the use of the latter simplifies the observance of niddah. I could not disagree more with this approach.

It is true that practicing both niddah and Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) can be somewhat cumbersome, but in my experience, the advantages of fertility awareness far outweigh the drawbacks. If a couple wishes to use FAM while also wanting to prevent pregnancy, they will need to use a barrier method of contraception or abstain from intercourse during a woman's fertile phase, which often - but by no means always - coincides with mikvah night.

Rather than discouraging a couple from using an empowering, natural tool that many women find preferable to artificial birth control, yoatzot should strive to work with couples to help them develop workable strategies for practicing both FAM and niddah. If you have any questions about how to do both, please don't hesitate to email ask@journeymama.net.