CER Mikve Building Programme in Full Swing

Tbilisi, Georgia - 15-Feb-10

The new mikve in Dortmund

The CER’s mikve building programme goes from strength to strength with new projects completed in recent months in a number of European countries. Meanwhile, requests for CER expertise in the building of new mikvaot continues to grow following new mikve construction in Klaipeda (Lithuania), Tbilisi (Georgia), Geneva (Switzerland), Lörrach (Germany), Brno (Czech Republic) and in the Russian cities of Perm, Tula and Tver. Most of these mikvaot have been constructed with full funding from the Conference of European Rabbis.

In Klaipeda, a 200-year old mikve was unearthed in recent archaeological excavations leading to a number of key halachik questions of how to build the new construction in this once major pre-war Jewish community.

The Georgian capital of Tbilisi has received its second mikve following construction of the town’s first mikve some 16 years ago. Renovation work undertaken with the support of the CER of the original mikve led to a seven-fold increase in demand for use of the mikve which led to the construction of the second mikve on the city.

During the CER Standing Committee meeting in Moscow in December, senior CER rabbanim joined the local community in Tula for the official opening of the community mikve. The Jewish community of Tula has seen great development in recent years with the opening of kindergartens, a Jewish school and a yeshiva to meet the demands of this growing community.

Work on the construction of the community mikva in Lörrach in western Germany was completed this month under the supervision of and with the support of the Mikve Department of the Conference of European Rabbis under the direction of CER Mikve Director, Rabbi Gedaliah Olshtein. Likewise, work on the mikve adjoining the community kindergarten in Dortmund is scheduled to reach completion in the coming weeks. The Jewish community of Dortmund now numbers some 4,000 people and the influx of young families into the area has led to the demand for a new mikve in the city. CER support alongside that of other Jewish organisations has made this project possible.