ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the question of ritual purity in medieval Ashkenaz, specifically in relation to the actual ritual pools (miqva’ot, plural of miqveh) that have been excavated, exposed, or rediscovered in various parts of Germany and northern France. Other than referencing halakhic responsa literature (legal questions and answers addressed by prominent rabbinical authorities) in addition to biblical and Talmudic commentaries, the primary focus is the architectural features along with the function of these groundwater installations in comparison to other contemporary miqva’ot, but also their relation to the earliest miqva’ot uncovered at Jewish sites in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine period Palestine. Among the main goals is to understand how the act of ritual immersion evolved from a primarily male institution in biblical times, to a practice mostly associated with female members of the community in the Middle Ages. Rather than explicating the practice as exclusively indicative of male coercion around female sexuality, this analysis highlights signs of women's contribution to defining customs and rules of this essentially physical performance of piety.
