Some travel from as far as West Virginia to immerse in the warm waters of Adas Israel Congregation’s community mikvah in Washington, D.C.
The mikvah is complete with colored lighting, dim and bright lights, shampoo, baby soap, a hair dryer, makeup and nail polish remover and “anything else you’d find in a spa,” said Rabbi Elianna Yolkut, the director of the mikvah.
“Our physical space is beautiful,” Yolkut said. “It’s small, but you feel like you’re at a spa. You have 45 minutes to yourself in a quiet space with no technology.”
Adas Israel’s Jewish ritual bath is the only non-Orthodox mikvah in the DMV area, Yolkut said. Rabbi Emeritus Avis Miller, one of the first women to serve in a Conservative synagogue, convinced congregants in the late ‘80s that Adas Israel should have a mikvah open to the Jewish community, not limited to members of Adas Israel or Orthodox Jews.
Before Yolkut took over in 2022, Naomi Malka “grew the mikvah to what it is today.” Yolkut prides the community mikvah on being accessible and inclusive.
“We’re open to everybody,” Yolkut said. “If you have a physical disability, we have an AquaLift. If you’re having a gender transition, we welcome you to our mikvah. We believe that this is a ritual that all Jews can partake [in].”
Reflecting the oldest known Jewish ritual, the community mikvah sees 1,000 immersions a year, nearly 400 of which are conversions to Judaism — Yolkut recently helped immerse a 4-month-old baby.
“When you enter the mikvah waters, what you’re doing is not just having your own spiritual experience, but you’re connecting to millennia of Jews who we believe have immersed in waters,” Yolkut said.
The mikvah can be used for joyful milestones — an upcoming birth or marriage — or more somber experiences, such as loss or a health crisis. Other reasons include conversion or completion of a menstrual cycle. Yolkut offers tours and mikvah education to local religious school classrooms.
“We’re trying to make sure people understand it’s an open and embracing ritual experience that every Jewish person can have, from the tiniest baby to the most elderly person,” Yolkut said.
