Mikveh

The ritual bath was found sealed beneath a layer of destruction dated to 70 CE, in which researchers found burned ash and numerous artifacts that offer a snapshot of life just before the city fell.

“We have sent a letter to the chief rabbis requesting that this be permitted across the country from the moment a state of emergency is declared,” said ITIM director Rabbi Seth Farber.

Two weeks ago, and about eight years after the incident first occurred, the religious municipality of Kiryat Motzkin, along with Druckman, issued a public personal apology to Ishta.

Objects discovered during the excavation include oil lamps decorated with the menorah (seven-branched lampstand) and the lulav (palm branch and symbol of the harvest festival).

Just up the stairs from the mikvah — which is full of water — are remnants of the former Sphinx club: a Heineken sign and a pole for strippers.

Immersion can be a highly dangerous or even simply inaccessible activity for women with physical disabilities who may be using mobility aids like canes or wheelchairs.

Revamped Katamon ‘mikveh’ bears the name of Naava Applebaum, who used it shortly before her death in a terror attack in 2003.

Jewish people lived in Poland for centuries until the Holocaust obliterated their numbers.

For Boston-area Jews who immerse ritually on a monthly basis, in keeping with Jewish tradition, the closure could be a significant interruption.