Water+and+Judaism

Life-giving/Destructive
•The books of Genesis and Exodus are both part of the Jewish faith and therefore they share the belief of God’s reign over destructive water with Christianity. Noah's Ark is another example of when water is destructive and that faith in God is the only way to overcome the dangerous waters.

Purification
•The Mikveh is a ritual purification bath taken for several different reasons. Scribes are emerged into this bath before writing the tefillin, those who have come in contact with a deceased body are cleansed, and converts to Judaism are submerged.

•Orthodox Jews follow rules about washing hands before saying prayers, similarly to Muslims and Hindus, and cleaning hands before meals containing bread.

•Jews who use don’t have separate dishes to use for Passover meals can dip their dishes in boiling water to purify them for the special holiday.

Bibliography: Costecalde, Dr. Claude-Bernard. The Illustrated Family Bible. New York, New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 1997. Encyclopedia: Cavendish, Richard. "Water." Man, Myth & Magic. 1970. http://www.bbc.com http://www.sacredland.org/world_sites_pages/Ganges.html