By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
One of Passover’s most memorable traditions is the four cups of wine consumed during the course of a seder. But another tradition often observed before Pesach makes use of a different liquid: water, specifically the waters of a mikvah.
Rabbi Chanan Spivak, the Rosh Kollel of the Portland Kollel, explained that a purifying immersion in a mikvah, ritual bath of living water, typically collected from rainwater, is standard practice for many before all Jewish holidays, including Shabbat. But a pre-Pesach immersion takes on an extra significance. 
“Because the Pesach offering was brought by the entire Jewish people, the entire Jewish people took part in eating the Pesach offering,” Rabbi Spivak said. “So they would have to be prepared for that with spiritual purity beforehand.”
While the absence of a Temple in Jerusalem means that sacrificial offerings are no longer made and ritual purity is no longer as necessary, it’s still a step that many find meaningful as they prepare for this and other Jewish observances. 
“It is reflecting a spiritual reality that that is the ideal state that a person is in,” Rabbi Spivak continued. “A person does what they can. This is what’s available to me. I’m putting in an effort to try to get myself as close as possible to be able to appreciate it.”
That sense of getting ready to receive the sacredness of the holiday is an idea echoed by Lucy Marshall, the Senior Director of the Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network, a community of mikvaot that are committed to an inclusive and welcoming approach to Jewish ritual immersion as a way to mark life transitions; Rachel’s Well Community Mikvah, owned and operated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, is a member of Rising Tide. 
Marshall connects the body’s journey through the waters of the mikvah to the passage of the Jewish people through the Red Sea as they escaped Egypt during the Exodus. 
“There’s this sense of moving through the water into this transition, into freedom and liberation,” she said. “We can bring that connection with our immersion in the mikvah.”
She goes on to observe that, while many Jewish rituals sanctify an object like a kiddush cup, the ritual immersion makes the human body a holy object.
“We’re sanctifying our bodies, and so instead of doing just like a blessing over wine and drinking the wine and making that a holy vessel, our bodies are the vessel that we’re blessing and we’re doing the ritual with our full selves,” Marshall said.
With all the challenges that the lead-up to Passover presents, Marshall said that many have found immersion in a mikvah to be a valuable buffer between the stress of the planning and the celebration of the holiday.
“Passover takes a lot of preparation in our homes. Many of us change what dishes we’re using or we get rid of certain foods, and we have to buy new foods and prepare big meals and inviting people over or traveling. It can feel busy and like a lot of long to do lists,” Marshall said. “Mikvah provides a moment of pause and intentionality to really like soak in the moment and acknowledge where we are in Jewish time and feeling like we’re at this moment to really connect with the core themes of the holiday.”
Rabbi Spivak framed it in a metaphor: Just as a person who’s going to a wine tasting cleanses their palate to fully appreciate the complexities and uniqueness of a wine, so someone entering a holy period like Pesach can cleanse their “spiritual palate” with immersion. 
“If a person has cleansed their palate, there’s nothing impeding the wine from changing its taste,” Rabbi Spivak explained. “They’ll be able to be in tune with the experience.”
Rachel’s Well Community Mikvah is running open pre-Pesach immersion hours for men from 2:30-4:30 pm Monday, Apr. 22 and again before the concluding days on Sunday Apr. 28, 230-4:30 pm; no appointment is needed, but donations are appreciated and can be made at jewishportland.org/mikvah. Others interested in pre-holiday or other transitional immersions can email mikvahpdx@gmail.com to schedule an appointment, a minimum of 5 days prior to the preferred date.