(Israel Hayom/JNS) Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Seoul, South Korea, are completing the first-ever mikvah built in the country. Jewish women seeking ritual-bath services have thus far had to travel quite a distance—to China or Japan. The beach was also an option, though an awkward one.
The mikvah is constructed in the shape of a water drop that symbolizes the purity of the rainwater source of the mikvah. The walls and floor are made of wood in a modern design that hints at Korean and Asian tradition. The mikvah ceiling, shaped like a drop of water, was built using a 3D printer.
Rabbi Osher Litzman of Chabad in South Korea said: “We arrived 11 years ago, and it’s been our foremost goal to build a mikvah that will serve the Jews living here.”
Work on the project began a year ago, and the building is slated to be finished in a few weeks.