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[[Image:Mikveh.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A mikveh at Temple Beth-El (Birmingham, Alabama)]]

[[Image:Mikveh.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A mikveh at Temple Beth-El (Birmingham, Alabama)]]

A [[mikveh]] ([[Hebrew]]: מִקְוָה "gathering" [of water]) or '''mikvah''' is a bathing pool in which a person immerses themself as part of the cleansing process (''tevilah'' "immersion") to ritual purity in [[Judaism]] and [[Messianic Judaism]]. Natural bodies of ''moving'' water such as oceans and rivers, rainwater-replenished wells and spring-fed lakes are also considered to be mikvehs. However, problems of accessibility, weather and lack of privacy have led to the construction of man-made pools.<ref>Slonim, Rivkah. [http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikvah.htm ''The Mikvah'']. The Jewish Woman. 1996. Chabad.org. 6 May 2008</ref>

A '''mikveh''' ([[Hebrew]]: מִקְוָה "gathering" [of water]) or '''mikvah''' is a bathing pool in which a person immerses themself as part of the cleansing process (''tevilah'' "immersion") to ritual purity in [[Judaism]] and [[Messianic Judaism]]. Natural bodies of ''moving'' water such as oceans and rivers, rainwater-replenished wells and spring-fed lakes are also considered to be mikvehs. However, problems of accessibility, weather and lack of privacy have led to the construction of man-made pools.<ref>Slonim, Rivkah. [http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikvah.htm ''The Mikvah'']. The Jewish Woman. 1996. Chabad.org. 6 May 2008</ref>

Many Jewish women undergo ritual cleansing on a monthly basis, following [[menstruation]], and also just before [[marriage]] and just after [[childbirth]]. Grooms immerse themselves on their wedding day, and some men also immerse themselves in a mikveh before the [[Sabbath]] and the [[Holy Days|festivals]], particularly just before [[Yom Kippur]]. Tevilah is also one of the requirements at the end of the process of conversion to Judaism and some schools of Messianic Judaism.

Many Jewish women undergo ritual cleansing on a monthly basis, following [[menstruation]], and also just before [[marriage]] and just after [[childbirth]]. Grooms immerse themselves on their wedding day, and some men also immerse themselves in a mikveh before the [[Sabbath]] and the [[Holy Days|festivals]], particularly just before [[Yom Kippur]]. Tevilah is also one of the requirements at the end of the process of conversion to Judaism and some schools of Messianic Judaism.