It’s easy to think that the Teaneck Mikvah, which primarily serves women from the Teaneck, Bergenfield and New Milford communities, runs itself. It certainly appears that way to the average visitor. Most people have no idea how much time and energy it takes to run such an active and vibrant institution.
Ten years after the building’s opening, which now houses four modern mikvaot and 18 aesthetically pleasing preparation rooms, the user experience is seamless, quiet and calm. Visitors enjoy leaving the frenetic pace of their everyday lives to enter the tranquil spa-like building on Windsor Road, appreciating its luxurious hotel-style furnishings that seek to elevate the experience for women engaging in this special women’s mitzvah. Interactions with staff are minimally obtrusive, a move designed to create a reflective and serene mikvah visit.
In fact, said Nomi Rotblat, Teaneck Mikvah’s president, every detail of the user experience is conceived, designed and implemented by the mikvah’s dedicated cadre of staff and volunteers. These include both obvious details, such as making sure each room is consistently and beautifully prepared for the next visitor, to more complex details, such as the training of every shomeret to be sensitive to every patron. The mikvah staff and dedicated volunteers also address details one would rarely think of, such as how to provide upkeep for the mikvah’s oversized hot water heaters and multiple industrial washers and dryers. The full- and part-time staff of the mikvah work, in their dedicated and quiet way, to keep it all happening on a daily basis.
The Teaneck Mikvah welcomes 850 to 1,000 women a month during evening hours, and approximately 100 kallot annually during the day. It is open to men only during daytime hours on Erev Rosh Hashanah and Erev Yom Kippur. Four high schools take the opportunity each year to bring their female students to the mikvah, to see its beauty for themselves and introduce the unique mitzvot it helps women achieve. Other communities around the country also consult with and visit the Teaneck Mikvah regularly to discuss best practices, as the building is considered a model of innovation and beauty.
“This mikvah, this institution, represents our community; it demonstrates the priorities of our community and reflects the requirements of the community,” said Rotblat. “It should be something we are all proud of, something that is kept up to be as beautiful as it was the day it opened.”
“Our goal is always to be able to accommodate the needs of our women and the needs of the community,” said Miriam Greenspan, who served as the mikvah’s president for 15 years. Greenspan oversaw the building’s completion, and during her term, the Friday night mikvah on Teaneck’s south side was built. This second facility, which is open every Shabbat and Yom Tov, sees consistent usage by those living in the Jewish Center of Teaneck, Beth Aaron, Young Israel and Arzei Darom and Ohr Saadya neighborhoods.
Maintenance costs are increasing, Rotblat and Greenspan explained, because, like the areas of any high traffic facility, parts have to be fixed or replaced and the standards have to be maintained. “Needs are increasing in terms of upkeep,” said Rotblat.
Challenges met at the mikvah range from the simple to more complex, such as maintenance of the keilim mikvah—a heavily used room almost never unoccupied during daily hours, which is cleaned twice daily, to the more complex, such as addressing the needs of women with specific medical conditions or needs. “We sometimes have to drain a mikvah pool and refill it for these reasons,” said Rotblat.
Rotblat added that the shomrot and receptionists also are trained to present themselves with a specific non-judgemental tone, and deal gently and kindly with any challenge a woman faces in visiting the mikvah itself, such as fear of water or if she has an injury or special need of any kind. One of the most beautiful rooms in the mikvah is a fully wheelchair-accessible preparation room; the mikvah nearest it has a mobile water-submersible lift that can lower a woman in a wheelchair into the mikvah pool. These details have not gone unnoticed; People from all over the tri-state area have learned about the Teaneck mikvah and speak about the kind shomrot, and the variety of people who appreciate the welcome. “Sensitivity training is done annually. A lot of Halacha goes into our presentation and service. We cater to a broad population of women and need to be sensitive to where each woman is coming from,” said Rotblat. “Our staff, headed by the incredible Miriam Feman [head shomeret], understands the importance of the impression they make and the experience they provide.”
On a daily basis, Rotblat, with Greenspan and other lay leadership volunteers from every community shul work with the mikvah administrator and Feman to oversee three shifts of staff-day, evening and weekend receptionists, shomrot and housekeepers—to ensure that everything gets done. Feman has been involved with the Teaneck Mikvah for over 30 years, and mentors all the other shomrot. Also, the mikvah employs Gitty Eisner as the mikvah’s administrator, who deals with myriad other details on a daily basis. “I never even knew a job like mine was needed,” said Eisner. “Paying bills like water, insurance, payroll, landscaping, snow removal, phone, alarm/security, electricity, garbage, gutters, mortgage… that doesn’t even consider the repairs,” she said.
There is also a need to manage a regular repair budget, like twice-yearly visits from an exterminator, and also to be flexible enough financially for unexpected necessary repairs that come up, like the recent need for two new hot water tanks that cost $40,000, one of the two massive units that heat the building’s water, said Eisner.
The mikvah’s usage fee of $20 per visit along with a mikvah fee of $36 that every shul charges each family annually, only covers about 60% of the mikvah’s annual budget each year. The mikvah depends on its annual November gala women’s event to make up the difference. The event welcomes at least 600 to 700 women annually, and is a rare show of unity for all the women in the community. “It’s the only event that unites all the shuls, schools and other groups in support of the mikvah,” said Greenspan. “If you think of 600 or 700 women representing their family unit, it’s the biggest event held annually in the community, and everyone looks forward to the night out with friends,” she said.
This year, Rotblat said that community members Adeena Mayerfeld and Renee Blumenfeld will be honored with service awards for their dedication to the mikvah. Judith Rubin, creator of Ohel Sara Amen, will be the guest speaker. She is known for her chizuk and energy and in helping other women understand the power of prayers. The title of her talk is “Count Your Blessings.” The dinner will also include the wonderful raffles and giveaways for which it has become known. Learn more and sign up at www.teaneckmikvah.com/event.
By Elizabeth Kratz
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