02589nam 2200589 a 450 991096857330332120251117063311.00-8070-7743-7(CKB)1000000000786720(OCoLC)646822995(CaPaEBR)ebrary10326364(SSID)ssj0000173288(PQKBManifestationID)11169873(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000173288(PQKBWorkID)10162736(PQKB)11561944(MiAaPQ)EBC3118061(Au-PeEL)EBL3118061(CaPaEBR)ebr10326364(OCoLC)922968021(BIP)27915582(BIP)24113396(EXLCZ)99100000000078672020081212d2009 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrThe house of secrets the hidden world of the mikveh /Varda Polak-Sahm ; translated from the Hebrew by Anne Hartstein PaceBoston Beacon Pressc20091 online resource (272 p.) Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-8070-7742-9 Includes bibliographical references and index.The place -- The balaniyot -- A dose of impurity -- Blood and banishment -- Purity and sexuality -- Female rituals, sisterhood, and female authority -- Between a woman and God -- Between man and wife.For Orthodox Jews, immersion in a ritual bath-the mikveh-is the cornerstone of family life and is central to Jewish women's practice of their faith. Yet women from across the Jewish spectrum frequent the mikveh, often for surprising personal reasons. Roused by her own immersion experience, for years Varda Polak-Sahm, a secular Jew, patiently observed and interviewed women at the mikveh, gaining unprecedented access to this hidden world. The House of Secrets offers a richly nuanced, uncensored look at an experience that is for some holy and for others coercive, ultimately illuminating the remarkable power of ritual immersion.  From the Trade Paperback edition.MikvehJewish womenReligious lifePurity, RitualJudaismMikveh.Jewish womenReligious life.Purity, RitualJudaism.296.7/5Polak-Sahm Varda1861699MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910968573303321The house of secrets4467870UNINA