Tag #120453 - Interview #87387 (Rifca Segal)

And let me tell you a story about the ritual bath. Women must go to the ritual bath before getting married. The brides, that is. I had to go there myself. There was a rabbi here, in Botosani, his name was Burstein, who had a small pool inside his house, a mikveh. It wasn’t large, it was like a whole in the ground, with cement walls, it had steps for going into it, he filled it with water – from what I could see, it wasn’t very deep, I think it went up to the waist –, and I was supposed to go in there. And I didn’t want to go in that water, I was nauseous. And there was this woman there, she was very mean. But I didn’t go into it. At the risk of not getting wed – God forbid! And I gave that woman 5 lei, and told her not to make me go in there, and she gave me a written proof for the rabbi, so that he would perform the wedding.