I felt a certain sense of relief and comfort, in the fact that others had thought of this, and that there could be a certain solidarity and community.
We mark every other experience in a Jewish way; why not mark this one?
~ Batya describing her reaction to finding a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) in Massachusetts for women who have had abortions, Tablet Mag, August 13
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Whoever believes this ‘crock’ – that by going to a ‘special religious bath’ they can gain a state of ‘purity’ – is deceived. Confession of the murder of their child and finding forgiveness through Jesus is the only answer! LL
Whuttt?
Silly…I read more than half of this article. Silly
Reminds me of alinefrom a Randy Newman song:
.
They’re trying to wash us away, they’re trying to wash us away…
Hlengiwe Mhlaba- Living waters
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=srfENFpzEdo
It consists of three immersions …interspersed with short blessings and prayers, and it opens …asking God for help “to begin healing from this difficult decision to interrupt the promise of life.”
It’s not the the promise of life, it IS life.
Well, at least on their lists, they didn’t put abortion under joys, but rather near mourning and abuse. I guess it’s a start. Perhaps some women might make that leap from ‘marking the experience’ to realize their child, who was already someone special, deserved to live.
Because the most important part is about who is Jewish, not about who is human. Your baby was human – should have marked that experience in a human way!
Well, that was strange.
CCl blue Says: It consists of three immersions …interspersed with short blessings and prayers, and it opens …asking God for help “to begin healing from this difficult decision to interrupt the promise of life.” It’s not the the promise of life, it IS life.
Elsa says: You are absolutly correct! Being an abortion survivor myself. I have gone thru the process. And speaking from my point of view “it totally works”, now is not as simple as they put it on the articles. It is a series of steps. God is in the Center of all these steps.
So Ladies and Gentlemen that are negatively commenting about this… Don’t knock it if you have not tried it and not lived it.
Jewish Law totally works.
Elsa, when you say ‘Jewish Law totally works’ are you speaking only of the ritual bath having a spiritually cleansing effect?
Some Orthodox Jews believe that the law is clear that abortion is wrong. But more liberal Jews have rationalized a way to find abortion acceptable.
Can you clarify what you believe?
I don’t really think it sounds so silly. It reminds me, in general tone, of the Stacy Zallie Foundation, started by the father of a woman who killed herself following an abortion; his organization does not get involved in the legality, morality, or politics of abortion but rather wants the APA and medical community to admit the emotional and psychological risks of abortion, and concerns itself with the “emotional well-being” of women who have had abortions . This mikveh similarly does not really seem to get involved with trying to take a position on abortion. I know that “neutral” is, by default, tolerant of the legality of abortion and so I think that being politically neutral is problematic, but I think that being “neutral” when dealing with actual individuals is not necessarily the same thing.
This ceremony seems to have initially been conceived and offered as part of a grieving process. The woman is identified by name and declares her choice not to let the life within her flourish. She is immersed in water as part of a standard traditional ritual, as far as I can tell. I know that most people here want the woman to admit that what she did was wrong, and think that any post-abortion support system must have this as a goal. I don’t necessarily agree. I think that everyone should know that abortion is wrong, but I also think that it is possible to provide emotional support for post-abortive women in a neutral way. I don’t believe in a god but I think that anyone who thinks that abortion is accepted by the Judeo-Christian god is probably not really thinking clearly; I also don’t think that it is necessarily the responsibility of everyone who offers support to post-abortive women to be explicitly involved with helping them see the wrongness of abortion.
A woman in the article who wrote a predecessor to this ceremony, a post-abortion Jewish prayer ritual, says that she wrote it after confronting a lot of post-abortive grief and ambivalence from women in her time at a hospital. Her ceremony ends with the words: “Choose life, that you and your seed may live.”
This seems like a grey area to me. It seems like there are women in need of support, women who want to lay claim to what they have done, before another person and before their God; and this ceremony is designed to support them. I know that some people don’t like the Stacy Zallie Foundation either because it similarly does not really get involved in claiming that women must admit abortion is wrong in order to be helped in its aftermath, but personally I think that there are women out there who crave neutral support, a neutral space in which to grieve something they know they need to grieve; and I’m okay with giving them that neutrality.
I hear your points about the “neutral” healing process. If their point of view allows, in principle, for simultaneous scheduling of abortion, followed by “healing ritual” grief spa (“Oh, no openings then? Well, I’ll have to call you back after I see if I can postpone my aborsh til then. I was really hoping for immediate healing.”), I find it very disturbing. I would be happy for any REAL healing it provides, but “marking the experience” … It’s more than the spa water that feels lukewarm here.
Is the water used, from Hot Springs or Steam Boat, Colorado?
I am noticing that there is a universal need for spiritual healing after an abortion.
I have seen secular and pagan and New Age and Christian approaches to this healing. I have seen Catholic and Evangelical approaches to healing. (I have not seen the “liberal Protestant” approach to healing yet, but I trust that it exists somewhere.)
So I am not at all surprised to see a Jewish approach to healing. And it makes perfect sense that the Jewish process would be more sacramental than psychological.
Here’s the troubling part: Abortion healing therapies come in two types —
1) Those that realize abortion is evil and wrong, helping the woman to admit the guilt and accept forgiveness.
2) Those that insist that abortion is a good thing, and help women to deny the guilt and try to feel good about themselves.
But this mikveh bath seems quite ambiguous, admitting either attitude to the ritual. This troubles me, because I am Catholic (and thus a spiritual heir to the Jewish faith) — and so I expect that if this bath ritual is accomplishing a real thing, then the teaching should be clear about what it is doing.
Del – any doubts you may have were answered by Laura Loo (the first comment above) thus my not so professional query regarding the quality of this water.
But on a serious note: as a Roman Catholic myself, I have to wonder how Judaism can reduce the Jewish Jehovah to a deity that condones abortion and allows for “purity bath” to reedem that act. This is yet the biggest non-sequitur I have read about.
Interesting piece of info I found on that website:
http://www.mayyimhayyim.org/Using-the-Mikveh/Suggested-Donations
Lifecycle Passages / Personal Transitions
(Conversions*, Pre-Wedding, Celebration, Healing)
$90 Suggested Contribution
90 bucks to “purify.” Amazing…
Let’s look at this in its very best light:
These Jewish folks maintain and operate a sort of pilgrim center or shrine for observant Jews. Because they are Jews, their sacramental order is based on “purification.” Their desire for reconciliation with God is expressed through acts of cleansing.
The pilgrim center recognizes that abortion is an act interferes with one’s relationship with God, requiring restoration. Pro-life Christians agree with this.
A pro-life rabbi with a ministry of healing for post-abortive women would find this ritual cleansing to be very helpful. Perhaps in conjunction with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the woman could admit her guilt and pray for forgiveness on the Holy Day. Then proceed to the ritual bath, as a sign of admitting her need for cleansing and also accepting the renewal of forgiveness from God.
For the Jewish women and their rabbis who are truly serious about spiritual healing, this could be a very good thing.
I agree with your analysis Del.
“For the Jewish women and their rabbis who are truly serious about spiritual healing, this could be a very good thing.”
… but, is it acceptable for a Rabbi to put a price tag on “spiritual healing?”
I know that most people here want the woman to admit that what she did was wrong, and think that any post-abortion support system must have this as a goal. I don’t necessarily agree.
How can a woman heal if she can’t admit or doesn’t even know what she needs healing about?
Thomas R. says:
August 21, 2013 at 2:51 pm
… but, is it acceptable for a Rabbi to put a price tag on “spiritual healing?”
Christians call this “simony” (after Simon the Magus in the Acts of the Apostles), and we condemn the practice of paying for spiritual gifts.
But Jews have a different ethic concerning compensation for spiritual works. Even the Mosaic Law of Leviticus described “cereal offerings” and other payments which sustained the priests and Levites.
I’m sure that it’s no small thing to keep a ritual bath “kosher.” The Jewish participants may well feel that they are getting very good value for their time in the pool, and those who maintain the pool may being doing so as a non-profit ministry. It’s not for us to judge.
You know Del as well as I do that in this scenario, non-profit is actually for-profit. As far as the judging is concerned – what’s wrong with a simple inquiry into the motives of these “ritual bath” swindlers?