Some people have a custom (or accustom themselves!) to going to the mikvah before Shacharis in the morning. Let’s explore the pnimius of going to the mikvah. The goal of going to the mikvah before davening is to wash off all our impurities and be prepared to receive the “Ruach D’Kedusha” – the spirit of holiness and to fully welcome our neshamos back into our bodies, making our body a holy vessel, which is more comfortable for our holy neshamah to return into. This process makes it easier for us to focus on davening and to feel deveykus with Hashem in our tefillah because there is less resistance coming from the klipos and our bodies.
When one goes into the mikvah, he is immersing himself in the “Olam Ha’Teshuvah” – the “World of Returning” to Hashem. When under the holy waters of the mikvah, one is like a baby in his mother’s womb, where he returns to an earlier state before his creation when he wanted nothing but closeness to Hashem. All of man’s desires originate in the desire to be close to Hashem, and this is always our deepest starting point. Unfortunately, the klipos do their best to grab a hold of this deep desire and twist it and turn it until we forget what we wanted in the first place. As a result, we can end up acting in ways that have no connection to our deepest desire, and even run counter to it. But our core desire is, and always was, to be close to Hashem and to act in a way that brings us closer to Hashem. So the mikvah takes us back to this innocent time, before our pure intentions became twisted by the physical world. Under the waters of the mikvah, we return to our essential holy selves, filled with only our truest desire, to be close and connected to Hashem. When we emerge, we are a “briah chadasha” – a new creation, a new person.
When we enter the mikvah with mindfulness, we return to an earlier state of pure desire to be close to Hashem, where we are free of sin. In this place we have no thought at all of going against Hashem’s wishes, and our minds become overwhelmed by a desire to be close to Hashem. Being in the Olam Ha’Teshuva not only purifies us from any sin we did with our bodies, but also affects any negative traits we have or negative thinking such as greed, anger, or worry, because all of these traits and thoughts are overcome by our clear consciousness that all we want is Hashem. From this place we achieve inner peace and serenity, free from worries about this world, as we recognize that Hashem already has the solutions to all our problems worked out for us in great detail and there is nothing for us to worry about. In the mikvah, we recognize that all of our worry and planning amounts to nothing and is just coming from feeling separate from Hashem. We can let this go. We can relax and turn all this over to Hashem who already has it all figured out. This brings us true emunah – the wonderful feeling of being carried by Hashem in every way and in every part of our lives.
When we are in the mikvah, we return to our spiritual source where we came from. We stay in that fully spiritual state for a moment under the water, and then emerge as a new being that is pure and clean, like a convert or a baby that was just born who has never sinned and who has never been impure in any way. The Baal Shem Tov therefore suggests that when we enter the water, we should picture ourselves encapsulated in Hashem completely from every side and allow ourselves to become one with Hashem and His holy Name through this experience.
The powerful spiritual experience of going to the mikvah is not just for using before Shacharis. Anytime you feel weighed down by your thoughts or actions, or feel distant from Hashem for any reason, is a good time to go to the mikvah! Treat yourself to an experience of rebirth and renewal, and use this moment to forget what you’ve done and reset your relationship with Hashem. It is a far more profound experience to reset and recommit yourself through mindful immersion in the mikvah than to just tell yourself: “I’ll try to be better from now on!”
Moment of Mindfulness: Before entering the mikvah, think about how your deepest desire is, and has always been, just to be close to Hashem. Try to feel a moment of regret for anything that took you away from Hashem, and then immerse yourself into the World of Teshuvah, the loving embrace of Hashem. Emerge as a “briah chadasha” – a new being, recommitted to being close to Hashem.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 10.