Erev Rosh Hashanah

[A] (halacha 917)

Question: Is there a special significance to immersing on Erev Rosh Hashanah?

Answer: The Kolbo¹ writes: 'Rabbeinu Asher z"l wrote: on Erev Rosh Hashanah the custom is to fast and to give great charity, as we say "the reward of a fast is the charity," and all of Israel also have the custom to immerse in a river on Erev Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and were it not for the cold of these lands all of Israel would be obligated to do so, for a baal keri is forbidden in tefillah; and they relied on that which Rabbi Yochanan said, "they abolished immersions." And the Rif z"l wrote: immersions they abolished, but washings they did not abolish; and now hold to the custom of all of Israel, that they do not pray until they wash. And in Spain, where they have no cold, they immerse, but in these lands they do not. And in the Yerushalmi it is implied that there are places that immerse and there are those that do not immerse, and because the tefillos of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur require very great purity, and the cold has not yet arrived, they have the custom to immerse, thus far. And one does not recite a bracha over this immersion, since it is only for purity's sake. So wrote the Maharam, and he was accustomed to pour over his body nine kabin of hot water, which are 216 eggs' worth, in place of immersion, for that immersion is only for purity's sake and not for obligation's sake,' end of quotation.

And in the Maharil² it is written [according to some versions]³: 'On Erev Rosh Hashanah, close to Mincha, they wash and immerse without a bracha, and the custom of the Maharil Segal was that he immersed three consecutive times both on Erev Rosh Hashanah and on Erev Yom Kippur, and so too wrote the Rokeach, because in Scripture there is three times "the Mikveh of Israel," and he would require that even young men and maidens⁴ who had reached their proper age immerse.'

The Rema⁵ brought the words of the Kolbo: 'And some have the custom to immerse on Erev Rosh Hashanah because of keri.'

And Rabbi Binyamin HaLevi in the machzor Maaglei Tzedek⁶ [brought by the Eliyah Rabbah⁷] wrote: 'And some of the men of deeds had the custom to immerse on Erev Rosh Hashanah in a mikveh three consecutive times.'

And the Levush⁸ wrote: 'And they have the custom to immerse on Erev Rosh Hashanah so that he may pray the tefillah of Rosh Hashanah in purity, that which is in his power to purify, namely the impurity of keri; even though he is not purified from the impurity of a corpse without sprinkling, nevertheless that which is in his power to do he should do; but one does not recite a bracha over this immersion, for it is not an obligation.'

And Rabbi Moshe Makir wrote⁹ [brought by the Shelah¹⁰]: 'He must also purify himself and his very body, that he wash and purify himself and immerse in the waters of a mikveh; even though it is not his practice to do so all year, on this awesome day he must at the very least immerse and cast off from upon himself all the impurities and all the foreign thoughts that clung to him all the days of the year, and on every single festival a person is obligated to purify himself¹¹, all the more so on Rosh Hashanah, when a person must seek after purity and holiness to stand before his G-d, may He be blessed and exalted, with whatever comes to his hand.'

And the Mateh Ephraim¹² wrote: 'They have the custom to immerse on Erev Rosh Hashanah because of purity and separation. And one should immerse three times¹³.'

And the Elef HaMagen¹⁴ explained: 'And the essence of this immersion must be after the fifth hour, for then the holiness of the day begins to shine forth, and he becomes sanctified with an added measure of holiness. And let his purpose be to wash and purify himself in honor of the day, and to cast off from upon himself all his filth and his thoughts that are not good; for the purity of the body in a valid mikveh is a wondrous segulah for the purity of the soul, as is explained in the holy sefarim. And even though he does not immerse himself every Erev Shabbos, nevertheless on Erev Rosh Hashanah he should be scrupulous to immerse himself, for if he is obligated to purify himself on every festival, all the more so on Rosh Hashanah, when he must seek after purity and holiness. And one who suffers distress in immersing is permitted to pour nine kabin of water over himself. See above siman 606, and seek it out from there.'

And the Ben Ish Chai¹⁵ wrote: 'And they have the custom to immerse on Erev Rosh Hashanah because of keri, for it is possible that some drop came out from him while urinating without his awareness, and also because of the impurity of marital relations, and also in order to receive the illumination of the holiness of the festival day of Rosh Hashanah for a good life and for peace. Therefore, at the first immersion one should have in mind that it is for purity, and at the second one should have in mind the rectification of anger, and at the third the sweetening of judgment and severity through kindnesses, and at the fourth to remove from upon himself the garments of the weekday, and one should also have in mind with this "let the year and its curses end," and at the fifth to receive upon himself the illumination of the holiness of the Day of Remembrance, and one should have in mind with this "let the year and its blessings begin" .. If a man is prevented and is unable to immerse, he should pour over his body nine kabin of water while he stands naked, and one other person should come and pour the water over him from his head to his feet; and these nine kabin are: each kav is 432 dirham, for each kav is four lugin, and each log is 108 dirham, as mentioned in Beis David daf 136. And if he does not have a single vessel that holds all nine kabin, he should divide them among two or three vessels, but more than three vessels do not combine; and he should be careful to pour the second before the flow of the first has ended, and so he should do with the third, as mentioned in the Mishnah, chapter 3 of Mikvaos; and see Shulchan Aruch of the Gaon Rabbeinu Zalman z"l, siman 606 .. And if this too he is unable to do, it is good that he wash his hands forty times, and this is the order: he first pours over the right hand once and has in mind the first letter of the Name of 72; and likewise once over the left hand and also has in mind the first letter of the Name of 72; and further he pours twice over the right and has in mind the second letter of the Name of 72; and likewise twice over the left and has in mind the second letter; and so in this manner up to ten times; and he goes back and pours ten times, one after another, over the right and each time has in mind one letter of the ten letters of the Name of 72; and he then pours ten times, one after another, over the left and has in mind with them the ten letters of the Name of 72 in order — thus the total sum is forty times, as mentioned in the sefer of Amli of Ninyu z"l in the kuntres Sha"a, see there.'

And the Mishnah Berurah¹⁶ wrote: 'And if he is unable to immerse because of the cold, he should see to pour nine kabin of water over his body¹⁷. And he should not immerse earlier than one hour before midday [Chayei Adam].'

So we have seen that there is a very great importance to immersing on Erev Rosh Hashanah and to entering the festival in a state of purity!

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¹ סי' סד דין הלכות ר"ה וסדר תפלה ↩

² הל' ר"ה ↩

³ וראה ג"כ במטה משה סי' תשפח. וא"ר סי' תקפא ס"ק לח ↩

⁴ וראה שו"ת יפה נוף (מזיא) יו"ד סי' קיב. שו"ת רב פעלים ח"ד סי' טז. בן איש חי ש"א נצבים ג ↩

⁵ שו"ע או"ח סי' תקפא ס"ד בהג"ה ↩

⁶ דיני ערב ר"ה (דף רכג) ↩

⁷ סי' תקפא ס"ק לח ↩

⁸ או"ח סי' תקפא ס"ד ↩

⁹ סדר היום סדר ערב ר"ה ↩

¹⁰ מסכת ר"ה נר מצוה ↩

¹¹ המטה אפרים אלף למטה סי' תקפא סל"ח כתב: 'הדבר פשוט שאין טבילה זו משום טהרה ברגל שאין נוהג בזה"ז כמ"ש ביד אפרים סי' רמ"ב ועיין בשו"ת שאגת אריה' ↩

¹² סי' תקפא סנ"ג ↩

¹³ וראה באלף המגן שם ס"ק קכב ↩

¹⁴ שם אות קכא ↩

¹⁵ ש"א נצבים ס"ג ↩

¹⁶ סי' תקפא ס"ק כו ↩

¹⁷ וראה טהרת מים (טעלושקין) ע' שיד ↩

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