The first time I saw a mikva, I had no idea what it was.

My college roommate took me to a small building behind her synagogue that looked like a storage unit. We entered a dimly lit area where a small, green-tiled pool dominated the shabby room. It was hardly appealing, and I was shocked when she told me that Jewish women immersed themselves in it before they got married.

"My mother told me that the rain waters that fill it are like the waters of Eden," she said as we left.

The next time I encountered a mikva was in The Ritual Bath, a mystery novel written by Faye Kellerman. While the moving descriptions of the Orthodox women who went to the mikva had a powerful hold on me, I never thought that I would go to one myself.

Several years later, I made a decision that was life-altering: I decided to leave my law practice and pursue my passion for Jewish learning. I wanted to do something special and spiritually significant to elevate my choice into something more than just a career change. That's when it hit me. I would begin my journey into Jewish learning by preparing myself in a very Jewish way: I would study the texts and go to the mikva. To this day, it stands as one of the highlights in my quest to find ways to live a meaningful Jewish life.

Traditionally, mikva is a thoroughly private experience so I feel somewhat uncomfortable writing about it. But I take some comfort in knowing that along with other traditional Jewish rituals that are being redefined today, there is renewed interest in mikva observance as modern Jewish women discuss, explore, and participate in the ritual for the first time.

The laws of taharat hamishpaha, or family purity, date back to biblical times. There are a lot of misconceptions and negative connotations about these laws, which have been viewed as primitive or demeaning to women by Jews who are not familiar with the reasons behind the laws. But mikva lies at the heart of Jewish life because it offers us the opportunity to become spiritually pure and to perpetuate Jewish life and Jewish living.

Leviticus 18:19 and 20:18 prohibit marital relations during a woman's menstrual cycle and for seven "spotless" days thereafter. A woman goes to the mikva to become spiritually pure, not physically clean, as those who misunderstand the ritual suggest. If we understand menstruation as a reflection of a woman's unique potential to create life, then we can appreciate a ritual that honors the renewal of a woman's capacity to conceive.

Mikva attendance requires conscious, vigorous preparation, including bathing, washing and combing the hair, cutting fingernails, and removing all jewelry, makeup, or anything that is a barrier between a woman and the mikva waters. It gives a woman the opportunity to luxuriate in being "squeaky clean" and offers a time to focus on the miracles of being a woman.

Mikva has traditionally been used for conversions, kashering utensils, and preparing the dead for burial. But today, Jewish women are reclaiming the ritual to celebrate important lifecycle events and provide meaningful ceremonies in times of loss, tragedy, and sickness. Women also go there to mark the onset of menopause, the end of a marriage, a trip to Israel, and, in my case, a change in careers.

Many community mikva'ot are open to all Jewish women before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur so they can prepare themselves spiritually for the year ahead. What a wonderful mitzva to add to our lives as we embrace the New Year and the joys of being a Jewish woman.