Teaneck—No longer will they need to make special arrangements for their children to be babysat for a couple of hours as Shabbos begins, or ask their husbands to daven Kabbalas Shabbos at home. No longer will they walk home alone amid large stretches of darkness, in all manner of weather, and have delayed Shabbos dinners. No longer will they need to request a heter to go to the mikvah earlier in the day, or delay their immersion to the following night.
Because of a decade and a half of dedication and hard work by a small group of people, the women in our community who live south of Route 4, now have a different, much more pleasant experience to look forward to if their mikvah visit falls on a Friday night.
The South Side Mikvah Committee, under the auspices of the Teaneck Mikvah Association, reported that as the halakhically mandated amount of rainwater has been collected, the Friday night and yom tov satellite mikvah, is now open for use in at 87 Sterling Place in Teaneck. The mikvah is located directly across from the Sterling Place entrance of the Jewish Center of Teaneck.
“The new satellite mikvah will allow for increased observance of this great mitzvah, and promote more shalom bayis and oneg shabbos within the community,” said Rabbi Laurence Rothwachs, mara d’asra of Congregation Beth Aaron.
“We extend our gratitude to the 170 families who have helped us to raise $460,000 to date,” said Miriam Greenspan, president of the Teaneck Mikvah Association.
“The mikvah has five dressing rooms. Four of the rooms have bathtub/shower combinations and the fifth is handicapped accessible with a large walk-in shower. The facility has one bor and one mikvah,” said Greenspan.
“In addition, a backup generator has been installed so that in case of a town-wide power outage, the satellite mikvah will be able to temporarily meet the needs of the greater Teaneck/Bergenfield community,” she said.
The mikvah will be open by appointment only, so reservations must be made via the Teaneck Mikvah website at http://www.teaneckmikvah.com. “While walk-ins will not be turned away, the shomeret may not be there if there are no appointments that night,” said Greenspan.
Rabbi Rothwachs is the posek for the new mikvah, though each of the rabbeim of the seven shuls in southern Teaneck have seen the mikvah and have been involved to varying extents with its building. Recently, all seven rabbeim put up mezuzos and toured the new facility with their congregants.
By Elizabeth Kratz
