Have you ever heard of mikvah preparation rooms built right on the beach?
“When I asked my grandmother where she would immerse, she showed me special rooms that were built on the beach, very close to to the water in the capital, Valletta,” says Reuven Ohayon, president of Malta’s Jewish community.
“A woman could reserve a private room to prepare for her immersion, from which she walked over to dip in the sea, in a place where no one would see her. It required real dedication to immerse in the winter, when the sea was stormy, without heating or proper facilities…”
Rabbi Chaim Shalom Segal, the Chabad Shliach in Malta, says that nowadays those special rooms are no longer functioning.
“Both local Jews and tourists are depending on your help to get a new mikvah constructed in Malta,” he says.
Now, in these special days, when we beseech G-d in our prayers to “purify us from all our defilements”, help us increase in the purity of the Jewish community of Malta.
