The Action Committee for Integrity in Providing for Religious Services, which includes many of the most prominent Rabbis from Ramat Bet Shemesh, requested that I help the English-speaking public understand the issues encompassed in the struggle to ensure that Mikvehs provide any woman who wishes to utilize Mikveh services with amiable and Halachically-sound service which will promote Mikveh use.
I may also write up some summaries in English of the material which has been publicized in Hebrew in the past several weeks; but, first of all, I wish to encourage anyone who wishes to hear the truth from someone who has studied this issue in depth, and whose purpose is simply to promote positive experiences relating to dipping in the Mikveh and other spiritual actions, to contact me by phone or Email for more details.
Catriel Lev
Mobile Phone: 050-205-7867
Home Phone: 02-991-4332
Email: clev@actcom.com
http://www.bhol.co.il/forum/topic.asp?cat_id=4&topic_id=2784668&forum_id=771
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bhol.co.il/forum/topic.asp?cat_id=4&topic_id=2784687&forum_id=3845
http://www.bhol.co.il/forum/topic.asp?cat_id=4&topic_id=2784285&forum_id=3845
ReplyDeleteThis is the English translation of the message posted by Rav Spector:
ReplyDeleteIn response to many queries I have been receiving, we notify the tzibbur
that:
1. The mikva for women on Dolev is open as usual. The left side is under my
halachik supervision and is Kasher Lemehadrin and managed by the balanit
Mazal Cohen
2. The Keilim mikva on Dolev is closed for renovations
3. The keilim mikva on Lachish is open as usual
4. The women's mikva on Lachish is closed for renovations.
bivracha,
Rav Spector
Rav in charge of the Shabbat, Eiruv and Mikva divisions in the Rabbinate and
Moetza Datit of Bet Shemesh.
הודעה חשובה לציבור(כ' אייר תש""ע
)
בתשובה לשאלת רבים ולאור פרסומים ושמועות שונים, אנו מודיעים לציבור :
1. מקוה לנשים בנחל דולב ברמת בית-שמש א' פתוח ופועל כרגיל.
האגף מצד שמאל הוא בפקוחי ההלכתי ובהשגחתי המלאה וכשר למהדרין
ומנוהל על ידי הבלנית הותיקה הגב' מזל כהן שתח'.
2.מקוה-כלים בנחל דולב ברמת בית-שמש א' סגור לצורך שיפוץ.
3. מקוה-כלים בנחל לכיש ברמת בית-שמש א' פתוח כרגיל.
4.מקוה-נשים בנחל לכיש ברמת בית-שמש א' סגור לצורך שיפוצים.
בברכה,
הרב דוד אברהם ספקטור,
רב וממונה מחלקת שבת, עירובין ומקואות
הרבנות הראשית והמועצה הדתית בית-שמש
Rena Hollander, Advocate and Notary
anyone know if the Dolev keilim mikvah was at any point open yet pasul? when the water level was low, was it still a kosher mikvah (if you could reach) ?
ReplyDeleteShira, you can't rely on blog comments for answers to halachic questions. Call R. Spektor or your rav.
ReplyDeleteI always kibbitz about halacha with my friends. When it's time I ask a posek.
ReplyDeleteSince I have been asked about it, I am posting, in English, the names of the Rabbis involved in the Action Committee for Integrity in Providing for Religious Services, since they are investing great effort in resolving the problems of the Mikveh issue, they are:
ReplyDeleteRav Yosef Edry, Bet Knesset Mishkan Avraham U'Meir
Rav Shai Naftali, Bet Knesset HaSefardi Ramat Shilo
Rav Boaz Mori, Rosh Yeshivat Lev HaTorah
Rav Yitschak Amior, Bet Knesset HaSefardi Or BaRama
Rav Refael Rones, Bet Knesset Ben Tzvi
Rav Nir Vargon, Bet Knesset Ramat Shalom
Rav Daniel Drier, Bet Knesset Nachalei Tefillah
Rav Chaim Soloveichik, Bet Knesset Or HaShalom
Rav Itiel Ariel, Bet Knesset HaMercazi HaAshkenazi
Rav Menachem Copperman, Bet Knesset Ahavat Tzion
Rav Zeev Rones, Ramat Shilo
(There may also be some other Rabbis involved.)
As a public service I bring to the community's attention the information I have found about to how to file a complaint if someone has been mistreated at a Mikveh. For the public good, in order to correct the situation, women who have endured mistreatment of any kind at the Mikveh are requested to file formal complaints (and this is true of any Mikveh anywhere in Israel).
ReplyDeleteHere is what I learned about filing such a complaint in Bet Shemesh:
Complaints about mistreatment at the Mikveh (including any physical mistreatment or threats, as well as violation of a woman's right to use the Mikveh according to her own Minhag) may be filed with Rav David Spector of the local Rabbinate. His phone numbers are: 052-385-9105, and 999-4987; and he meets with people at his home on Reuven Street in Scheinfeld at certain hours by appointment. He also has an office at the Rabbinate building downtown on Abba Naamat Street, and appointments with him at his office at the Rabbinate building can be made through the Rabbinate phone numbers: 991-1361, 991-2867. Rav Spector's Email address is: spektor@neto.net.il (This information is also available in the Shemeshphone on page 25e of the blue pages in English).
Anyone who knows women who experienced mistreatment at the Mikveh (even if they were only "threatened" that they will not be allowed in the Mikveh pool unless they perform an injurious process or behave in contradiction to the Psak that they have received), should please encourage them to file a formal complaint. It is understandable that women, who have gone through an experience as traumatic as some of these experiences have been, might not want to dredge up the unpleasant memories by going through the formal complaint process; but the many oral complaints received so far by the women dealing with this do not result in any action being taken to correct the situation, so it is for the public good that women are being requested to file formal complaints if they have endured mistreatment of any kind at the Mikveh (and this is true of any Mikveh anywhere in Israel). Only formal complaints can help correct the situation, and, the more women who formally file their sincere complaints about unjustifiable behavior toward them, the more chance there is of ensuring that nothing like this will be allowed to occur in the future.
Catriel Lev
Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
Mobile Phone: 050-205-7867
Telephone: 02-991-4332