Q&A: Immersion in a Mikveh
Immersion in a Mikveh
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I am a religious man and my wife is secular. On her own she doesn’t observe anything, but she is willing to go to the mikveh for my sake. My question is: does her immersion have religious significance for me? Is it considered that she fulfilled the commandment of immersion even though she does not believe that she is commanded to immerse? In the sense that commandments require intention. Does she need to do everything fully, including the blessing, or just immerse and that’s it? (Again, since she has no intention when making the blessing.) I want to note that she is secular in an informed sense (I don’t think she can be judged as a “captured infant”).
Answer
First, an informed secular person is a captured infant par excellence. Someone who thinks there is nothing real in Judaism is a captured infant.
But as for your question, her blessings of course are worth nothing. But the blessing and the intention are not indispensable for immersion for ordinary purity. If she immerses, she is pure.