PHOTO: Rachel's Well Community Mikvah, the fourth community mikvah built in Portland, marked its seventh anniversery on Nov. 1. (Benjamin Ariff for Rachel's Well)

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
The child of one of Jewish Portland’s greatest cross-organizational collaborations has turned 7 years old. 
Rachel’s Well Community Mikvah marked seven years of immersions on Nov. 1 – and with more than 2,000 immersions in its seven years, despite COVID-related shutdowns, it has become a foundational pillar of Portland’s Jewish communal life. 
Rachel’s Well is an atypical space – it is the first mikvah in the United States built, owned and operated by a Jewish Federation. Rachel’s Well is the fourth community mikvah in Portland; the first was built in South Portland in 1902 as the Jewish Ritualarium of Portland. Relocations came in 1929 to Southwest Third Avenue and Lincoln Street and to Southwest Harrison Street in 1959 in the wake of urban renewal. 
By 2016, the building was in disrepair and its live-in caretakers were looking to retire out of the area. Many of its primary users, Orthodox women who strictly observe the Torah’s family purity laws (Taharat HaMishpacha), had moved out of the neighborhood, meaning immersions on Shabbat or other holidays were impossible. 
After a series of discussions amongst community stakeholders, a decision was reached – the old mikvah on Southwest Harrison Street would be given to the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland to be sold, with the proceeds used to construct a new mikvah in Southwest Portland. Rabbi Tzvi Fischer was Rosh Kollel of the Portland Kollel at the time, and was one of the leaders spearheading the process, along with members of the Oregon Board of Rabbis and the Federation, which took on the role of leading, managing and underwriting the project.
“It was actually quite a balancing act to get everybody to work together,” Rabbi Fischer said.
“When people say, ‘Well, what does Federation do?’ I actually love to give this example,” mikvah manager and Federation Chief Planning and Engagement Officer Caron Blau Rothstein said. 
The challenge, as Rabbi Fischer explained, was to create a structure that worked for everyone. Jewish law dictates that a mikvah must contain naturally flowing water, either from a spring or from collected rainwater. A hole in the ground filled with rainwater can technically be a kosher mikvah, he said, “but nobody wants to go into a muddy pool of rainwater as their mikvah. So, it’s got to be aesthetically appealing, clean and meaningful in that way as well.”
This was the challenge for Blau Rothstein, who was project manager for the construction of Rachel’s Well – a first for her.
“Home Improvement and building a community building are two very different things, and it was a steep learning curve,” she said, “In order for the mikvah to be accessible, it not only had to be located in a certain place, but it had to be constructed to the highest standard, so it has to be constructed to Orthodox specifications, because that’s what makes a mikvah kosher for everyone. It’s how it’s constructed and how the water is collected and how it’s maintained, irrespective of who uses it and for what purpose.”
This is where Rabbi Fischer and the Kollel were indispensable. Rabbi Fischer explained that the mikvah became something of a “hobby” for him while he was in Portland and that its success remains something he is very proud of.
“I think all of the people coming together were able to accomplish a place that’s appealing, it’s pleasing, it’s inviting, and as a result, I think many more people see mikvah as something that they can approach, whereas mikvah definitely was taboo for many people outside the Orthodox community,” he said. “Seeing so many members of the community connect to something that is so deeply a part of our tradition is also very rewarding.”
Beyond the design and construction of the space, preparing to operate the mikvah was another step. Fortunately, there was also support on that end. 
“We were fortunate in getting connected with Naomi Malka, and she really helped us a lot with ‘What does the volunteer structure look like for guides? How do you train them? What do the operations look like?’” Blau Rothstein explained. 
At the same time as Rachel’s Well was preparing to open, the Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network, founded by Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikvah in Newton, Mass., in partnership with other community mikvaot , such as one in Washington, D.C. run at the time by Malka, was beginning to take shape. Rachel’s Well soon joined the network, and the collaboration has paid dividends, particularly as a resource for those immersing as a spiritual experience outside of the mikvah’s traditional halachic uses. 
“It has really been helpful for us in maintaining the space and then offering resources to people who come and immerse,” Blau Rothstein said. 
The only requirement to immerse at Rachel’s Well is to identify as Jewish (or to be coming there as the final step in a conversion to become Jewish), and the creation of immersion rituals for those experiencing a wide variety of transformations and transitions in life has made Rachel’s Well – and the concept of mikvah in general – a cherished part of many Portland Jews’ spiritual life. 
“I have been delighted and honored to guide the immersions of those with whom I study for conversion to Judaism, as well as many other transition moments in a person’s spiritual life,” Rabbi Ariel Stone told The Jewish Review in 2022. “Those with whom I’ve talked about it all express the feeling that this is a powerful ritual to support gender transition, transition from menstruating woman to menopausal woman, retirement, significant birthdays and recovery from trauma. I’m so pleased that our mikvah is truly a spiritual space for anyone who seeks to mark the turning of a page in their life.”
For its contributions to Rising Tide, JFGP received the Collaborative Community Partner Wellspring Award from the network in 2023. 
“Rather than doing different trainings for different kinds of guides, we came together because the learning was as much about the people in the room as the content we were sharing,” Blau Rothstein said, accepting the award on behalf of the Federation. “We learned from each other that there is value and meaning, dare I say holiness, in sharing a sacred space. The way we share isn’t necessarily to be in the space altogether at one time. The magic is in different people making the space what they need it to be when they occupy it.” 
Immersing at Rachel’s Well is also impactful for those whose immersions are more traditional in nature. Devora Fleshler is a volunteer guide for women who immerse monthly following their menstrual period in observance of Judaism’s family purity laws. These immersions are very personal, and Fleshler’s discretion is prized. The process has meaning for her, as well. 
“I get to have a very moving and special interaction with the women in our community,” Fleshler told The Jewish Review in 2022. “Since I retired, I have missed that interaction with women.” 
Beyond monthly immersions for Orthodox women and preparatory immersions before Shabbat and other holidays for men, Rachel’s Well has become the destination for those immersing for conversion in the area – and for the rabbis that supervise those conversions. Conversion candidates will sometimes make their appearance before the beit din, the rabbinical court that signs off on the process, in a room next to the mikvah pool. 
The merging of these missions – traditional and contemporary – was a foundational goal of the construction of Rachel’s Well, and it remains at the core of its mission seven years later. 
“The space is for you,” Blau Rothstein said. “The only thing that you need to have is a belief that immersing in this pool of water is a transformative experience; that it’s going to heal you, it’s going to celebrate you, it’s going to mark this change in your life.”
Art inspired by Rachel’s Well will be on display at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center in the “Waters of Life and Peace” exhibit, with an artist reception Thursday, Nov. 7, at 6 pm at the MJCC.
Learn more at jewishportland.org/ourcommunity/rachels-well-portland-mikvah and follow the mikvah on Instagram at @rachelswellpdx.