H EADLINES
Mikvah Continued from Page 1
for a conversation, and we’re
very open and hoping for the
broadest involvement in the
community.” A mikvah is so central to
Judaism, it traditionally should
be built before anything else
in a community, including a
synagogue, Schmidt said. Th is
mikvah will primarily be a
women’s mikvah, which helps
families observe the laws of
family purity, known as taharat
hamishpacha. More money is needed for
the mikvah, Schmidt said.

Th ey’ve raised most of what is
needed — about $600,000 so
far — but they need another
$200,000. When the renovations are
done, 509 Pine St. — the row-
house that is now solely the
location of the historic Vilna
Congregation — will also
house three new mikvahs. On
the ground fl oor, the main part
of the building will house the
women’s mikvah, which will
have three preparation rooms.

A second mikvah on the
ground fl oor will be used to
immerse vessels.

In the basement, there will be
a men’s mikvah with a shower.

Upstairs, a fl ex space will
serve as a space for Vilna’s
services, a library and other
community activities, such as
lectures and meetings.

“My fi rst choice was not
to convert the shul,” Schmidt
said. “I love the shul. Th is was
a very, very important thing for
the community.”
Schmidt said the fi rst loca-
tion he considered for the mik-
vah was B’nai Abraham Chabad,
but there wasn’t enough room.

He also looked into having it
in Vilna’s basement, but that
option would have cost at least
an additional $200,000.

“Th is was the most econom-
ical plan that made the most
sense,” Schmidt said.

In the next few weeks,
Schmidt will form a committee
to decide on decorations for the
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM mikvah. Anyone is welcome to
share their input, Schmidt said.

Until the mikvah is com-
plete, Center City residents
who observe taharat hamish-
pacha have had to make
do with mikvahs that have
cropped up in other parts of
the Philadelphia area.

Th at was what motivated
Yah-el Har-el, an assistant pro-
fessor at Temple University, to
get involved with the project
about four years ago.

Har-el, who lives in South
Philadelphia, usually goes
to the Congregation Sons of
Israel’s Mikvah Ohel Leah in
Cherry Hill, N.J. It’s a drive
that takes her about 25 min-
utes, on top of the toll. Th e fact
that she has to drive there pro-
hibits her from going during
Shabbat and holidays.

“[Th is mikvah] will make
things a lot easier,” Har-el said.

“I’ll be able to travel less to get
there, so it’ll be a less frustrat-
ing experience. Th ere’s not as
much traffi c to get to Fift h and
Pine, that’s the address. A lot
easier to get there. It’ll take less
time, so I don’t always have to
worry about a babysitter.”
Over the years, Har-el has
coordinated meeting contractors
and reviewed diff erent architec-
tural and engineering plans.

“It’s been very much been a
community eff ort to bring it to
fruition,” she said.

Th e distance is especially
an issue in Center City, where
many don’t have cars.

Shevy Sputz, the co-director
at Chabad of Fairmount, drives
one hour and pays the toll to
get to Chabad of Cherry Hill’s
Mikvah Mei Shifrah.

She said that more women
would perhaps be motivated to
go if it was easier to get there.

Sometimes she has allowed
other women to borrow her
family’s car to get to a mikvah.

“Mikvah is the heartbeat of
a Jewish marriage,” Sputz said.

“It is so important. To not have
a mikvah of our own in the
city that we can get to on times
where there are snowstorms
and Shabbat and holidays …
Artist rendering of the
changing room
Artist rendering of the
waiting room
is very diffi cult and it
should not be that way.”
Reut Cohen, a student
at Drexel University’s
Thomas R. Kline School
of Law who is origi-
nally from Israel, used
to borrow Sputz’s car
to go to the mikvah
when she first moved to
Philadelphia. Now, she
has her own car, but said she
can’t wait to have a mikvah in
the city.

Th e distance isn’t just an incon-
venience; it also prevents her from
having a mikvah community.

“In Cherry Hill, they do a
lot of women’s events and stuff
about taharat hamishpacha,
about that mitzvah,” Cohen
said. “Since it’s not my com-
munity and I’m coming there
only for the mikvah itself, it’s
also hard to connect that com-
munity. Th is is what we also
hope, that a mikvah in the
city will also give us an oppor-
tunity to have that women’s
community, a mikvah com-
munity in the city so we’re
going to be familiar and meet
other women.”
Schmidt said he plans to
JEWISH EXPONENT
have educational program-
ming at Mai Shalva.

Yoella Epstein, a lawyer who
lives in Center City, currently
goes to Temple Beth Hillel-Beth
El’s mikvah in Wynnewood.

Th e whole trip takes her about
two hours, including the time
it takes her to fi nd a parking
spot in Center City when she
gets home — that alone can
take 45 minutes.

With four kids and a full-
time job, going to the mikvah
is burdensome. Having a mik-
vah within walking distance
would be “a huge enhance-
ment” to her life.

“I’m excited to bring my lit-
tle girls to see it, too,” Epstein
added. ●
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
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