BoulderMikvah

Thu - September 15, 2005

Final pictures moved

The last bunch of photos has been moved.

The final bunch of mikvah construction photos has been moved to flickr.

Posted at 12:48 PM

Tue - September 13, 2005

Pictures Moving

The construction pictures are moving to flickr.

I am currently in the process of moving the pictures from the mikvah construction over to flickr.com. This will allow me to have as many photos as I want for quite a reasonable price. I'll also hopefully get around to creating a shortened annotated album

Posted at 11:41 PM

Tue - August 16, 2005

Pictures of the finished product

Some pictures of the finished mikvah courtesy of Rabbi Serabryanski and Josh Ditel.

The earlier pictures showed the mikvah water being quite green. In actuality the color of the water is very clear. The pump and filter system are working very well to keep the water clean. The room is even more beautiful than these pictures show, but they are much nicer than any others I have.

The white line is actually the sun streaming in the windows as the pictures were taken in the afternoon.

Posted at 09:01 PM

Thu - May 26, 2005

Final Certification

We have our final rabbinic certification.

Rav Zelig Sharfstein from Cincinnati came to look at the mikvah. He was very pleased and impressed. He said that he would supply a letter indicating that this mikvah is kosher to use for anything that requires a mikvah. That means that it meets all the halachic (Jewish legal) standards for a mikvah in the highest degree.

This is wonderful news. Now we have to arrange a grand-opening for the mikvah to publicize this mikvah.

Posted at 11:24 PM

Wed - May 4, 2005

Mikvah was needed

Since the mikvah opened we have had customers

As soon as the mikvah opened we started having women want to come to mikvah. There are women that have come for their first time to the mikvah. We have women encouraging other women to come. All in all this has become quite a busy mikvah and getting more so all the time.

The best tribute to this mikvah I have heard of yet is that more than one person was impressed by the beauty of the entry room and the preparation room. When the door to the mikvah room opened they simply stood in awe and cried. This wasn't an isolated case either as it happened more than once. Not that I wanted to make anyone cry, but it feels wonderful that people are reacting to the care that went into the design in a way that lets us know we did the job properly.

In another couple weeks we will be IY"H having another rav come to view the mikvah. After his approvals we will be making a big grand opening and more publicity. If you have ideas that could help with fundraising or with publicizing the mikvah, please feel free to contact me.

Posted at 02:03 PM

Tue - April 26, 2005

Final permits

Today we had our final inspections.

Today we had our final inspections from the city of Boulder. We passed with flying colors and are now officially done with the construction with the exception of a rather short list of little details that need fixing up. This means we can now get ready for a real grand opening of the mikvah.

We also got a pool cover, of sorts, that keeps some of the heat in and also slows down the evaporation a lot. We were worried that there might be leak, but it doesn't appear that way any more. We were just getting a lot of evaporation. When we heat the pool to 99 degrees we were loosing several inches of water in a single day. Once the pool cover was installed we are losing much less, so it would appear that the evaporation was the main thing. A big clue was that the fan that is hooked up to a humidistat was running several times in the evening even though I had the windows all open to vent the room. Now we have to find the perfect temperature level for the mikvah so that we don't have to heat it quite so high. This will take a bit of experimentation to get right.

Within 24 hours of having water in the mikvah and the heating and filtering running we had many women calling to come use the mikvah. The response has been wonderful. It is clear that a mikvah in Boulder was definitely needed and it is an honor to be part of bringing that to reality so that there is a mikvah in Boulder.

The next things to figure out are the running of the mikvah. I will continue to take care of the mechanicals so that it is filtered and warm when needed. The scheduling needs to be figured out so that those women that wish to come know how to schedule their appointments. We also need to get many items for the preparation room so that we have what women will need to prepare. There is even some furniture to get yet, so there is certainly a lot more to do.

A friend and his family came to visit today. The comment from his wife was that the pictures don't do the mikvah justice. As nice as it looks from the copious photographs I have up, the experience of being in the room is amazing. We hope that it encourages women to come and to encourage their friends to come.

The exciting news is that we have a mikvah and it is being used. Baruch Hashem, there is a mikvah in Boulder.

Posted at 10:32 PM

Tue - April 12, 2005

The mikvah is full!

The mikvah is now completely full of water.

This evening we filled the mikvah the rest of the way. Before doing that I measured that the water was 24 inches above the bottom floor! The roof is amazingly efficient at collecting water, B"H. We finished filling the mikvah through the return hamshocho so that all the water going in has the status of living water (mayim chayim). The effect is absolutely stunning. The canyon pool vision is now a reality.

Posted at 09:00 PM

Sun - April 10, 2005

Significance of the dates

Rosh Chodesh Nissan and 2nd of Nissan

Something important to remind you of about the date that the mikvah was filled. The first day of Nissan was the day that Moshe completed building the Mishkan and the Shechinah descended. That is the presence of G-d descended into the world on this day. So that we completed the mikvah on this day is simply amazing. This signifies an increase in holiness in the world and in Boulder, in particular.

This is also the beginning of the cycle of the moon, that is what Rosh Chodesh is, and this is the month called the month of miracles.

2nd Nissan is the yartzeit of the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe Rashab was the one that designed the style of mikvah we have, the bor al gavei bor (chamber above a chamber). So that we filled the mikvah on the eve of his yartzeit is also highly significant.

Posted at 08:49 PM

Baruch Hashem!

We have water over the bottom floor in the mikvah!

We have water over the bottom floor in the mikvah. This means that the bottom chamber is now full of mayim chayim (living water). This means we now have all the necessary ingredients for immersion in a mikvah in Boulder.

History was made just before shkiah, Rosh Chodesh Nissan 5765: there is a mikvah in Boulder and the mikvah is filled with mayim chayim.

Posted at 07:39 PM

Within an inch

We are within an inch of being full.

The mikvah is getting good runoff from the melting snow. We are now within an inch of being full in the lower chamber!

Posted at 06:57 PM

Water update

When the rain started last night we had about 12 inches to go to fill the bottom.

Last night when the rain started in Boulder I went and checked the water level. Water was flowing in the mikvah very quickly and was flowing in through both holes in the top of the hatch covering the lower chamber. It was a beautiful musical sound. The water was about 12 inches from the top of the lower chamber when the rain started.

This morning when I checked we were about 6 inches from the top!

It is still snowing very well here and there are many inches already accumulated on the roof. The trees are covered in the sticky wet snow but the air temperature isn't that low. My thermometer says it is only 33 degrees which is why the snow isn't really sticking on the roads much.

So, here it is, Rosh Chodesh Nisan (the beginning of the month of miracles) and we have a huge snow to finish filling the mikvah. I will, IY"H keep you posted as the mikvah fills. I also plan to do a video tour of the facilities including stepping into the mikvah (filmed before we fill the top) so you can see what it is like.

One further update, the big room was carpeted. Here is what the finished product looks like.

This is the room in which we will be holding the passover seder this year. It is large enough to handle quite a crowd, and it will be much easier for everyone if we have it here rather than at the hotel (2 miles away).

Keep the snow coming! Fill the mikvah! Baruch Hashem!

Posted at 10:28 AM

Fri - April 8, 2005

Awaiting the rain

We are waiting for rain. We are praying the storm arriving now will fill the mikvah.

This week the solar modules were put on the roof and today Drake finished wiring everything in. We are now charging batteries with the power generated by the sun! The solar powered lights in the mikvah room also look great. Here is a shot of them putting up the modules and what the battery box looks like. I have room for more so when we can, we can increase the depth of our electrical storage.

Here is what the mikvah room looks like with the solar lights.

They look almost like moons above the mountains. The lights above also do a great job of illuminating inside the mikvah itself, so we don't even need to turn the line-powered lights on at all in this room. At night the blue sky becomes a wonderful night-sky color and the lights look like big stars illuminating the canyon pool mikvah. This is exactly the look we were hoping for.

Jerry is here today finishing the doors and other paint details. This week we also get the carriage doors in for the "converted" garage. This will meet the city's requirements that we have a garage and still give us a room useful as a regular room. The doors as amazingly beautiful. They are made from old heart-wood so they are very dense and straight. We couldn't bring ourselves to paint them even though that would have been cheaper. By doing a clearcoat it means we will need to keep them maintained, but they are so beautiful it will be worth it.

Dave is finishing up the path, so it will be possible to walk to the mikvah door without going ankle-deep in clay mud. It would make the mikvah experience a little too earthy.

We are really praying that this storm provides the rain needed to top off the lower chamber. As soon as that happens (and I have taken oodles of pictures, of course) we will fill the upper chamber and give a call to the pool guys to come turn on the heat exchanger/filter/purifier system. We are more than half way there. IY"H we will have an operating mikvah in Boulder soon.

This mikvah is also providing a lesson in G-d's kingship over the world to the City of Boulder and the construction crew. In order to get our final inspection we need to have everything operating, including the filter system. We cannot turn the filter system on until we fill the upper chamber. We cannot fill the upper chamber until G-d fills the lower chamber. Thus, even with a year of planning and 6 months of building, it all comes down to G-d to finish the work and let us open the mikvah.

Posted at 01:15 PM

Mon - April 4, 2005

Praying for rain?

Waiting for rain, finished tile

The tile is finished, but I don't have really nice pictures of the final work to show you. I will give you a couple shots just to give you an idea. Both of these are from inside the mikvah. One is what the small mountains look like from inside and the other is looking towards the stairway and into the darkened preparation room.

Drake and his wife are here today to put up the racks and the solar modules. When they have that in we will start generating electric power from the sun. Here they are up on the roof.

And here is what the battery box and the solar components look like:

We lose about 1/4 inch of water a day from the mikvah, so delays in the rain are costing us a lot of water. We need a good rain that will fill the whole lower chamber so that we can maintain the water level by topping off the upper chamber.

Pray for rain!

Posted at 11:16 AM

Thu - March 31, 2005

The tiling is finished!

Tiling in the mikvah room is finished.

Yesterday Judy finished the tiling in the mikvah room. The mountains are in place and grouted and everything that needs to be sealed is sealed. When the lights are installed we will take the paper off the floor and I will IY"H take a set of pictures to show off the finished masterpiece. I also plan a video tour of the mikvah facilities and I want to walk into the mikvah as part of that to give the full "immersive" experience.

There are just some final details in other rooms to finish up and then all the tiling on the project is done, but right now, the most important part is done.

Pretty much all that is left is finishing up the solar water heating and solar power. We also are waiting the arrival of the carriage doors from the manufacturer in Washington. And when the big room downstairs is clear of the stuff we moved in there, we will lay the carpeting in the classroom/meeting area.

Pray for rain. We are getting closer, but we need more rain.

Posted at 10:36 AM

Mon - March 28, 2005

Mountain building

Judy came with the rest of the mountains today

Judy brought over the rest of the mountains today. These are intended to suggest mountains in the distance beyond the walls of the canyon pool. From down inside the mikvah the experience is wonderful. Here are a couple pictures of the works in progress.