Unfortunetely, our dear mother Debbi was nifteres on Thursday afternoon. We will dearly miss her.
We will now strive to reach our goal as a merit for her soul.

The hospice nurses caring for our mother, Debbi Buckler, recently gave us the distressing news that she has only a few weeks left to live. Inspired by communities who rally to do good deeds to merit a refuah shleima (full recovery) for people suffering from illness, we decided to create a campaign for Debbi. [Debbi has kept a journal  and the family has been keeping it updated, it can be read here, http://buckler.com/blog

For almost two decades, our family has enjoyed escaping to our home in beautiful Cape Cod, MA. We have been blessed to make many special friends here, especially Rabbi Kuti and Rebbetzin Devorah Alperowitz, who run the Chabad House in Hyannis. The Rabbi and Rebbetzin have devoted their lives to Jewish Outreach and have tirelessly worked to provide a haven of Jewish life for residents and visitors of Cape Cod. Read More…

Read the post below to learn more about Mikvah and why we chose it as the center of our campaign for a refuah.

What is a Mikvah? [Spelled in hebrew Mem, Kuf, Vav, Heh]

The Hebrew word “Mikvah” means a “pool” or gathering of water. The one place where the Torah specifically mentions Mikvah is in the verse (Leviticus 11:36), “Only a spring and a pit, a gathering of water, shall be clean”.

The Mikvah for the following purposes:

1. The most common use is for the purification of a woman after her monthly period.

2. Conversion of a non-Jew into a Jew.

3. Immersion of pots, dishes and other eating utensils.

There are many laws and details related to each of these applications, but behind them are a great deal of depth and meaning to the mystery of the Mikvah.

The sefer (book) “Waters of Eden” by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (Zt’l) is a profound and amazing work that explains the source and esoteric reasoning behind the Mikvah. The following passages come from pages 72-73.

As Rabbi Kaplan (Zt’l), explains:

“Mikvah entails two basic concepts, namely water and the number forty. Both of these concepts are contained in a single letter, namely, the Hebrew letter Mem. The letter Mem derives its name from Mayim, the Hebrew word for water. Furthermore, the numerical value of the letter Mem is forty (In Judaism every Hebrew letter has a numerical value; Hebrew words and their numerical values are a significant part of their meaning).

“Therefore, it is not very surprising to learn that the letter Mem is also said to represent the Mikvah. [Zohar 2:159b] (Grammatically, the Hebrew word ‘Mayim’ [water] is literally the plural of the plain letter Mem).

“Another concept that we find associated with the letter Mem is that of a womb. [Sefer Yetzira 3:4]

“The closer, (end or final) Mem is the womb closed during pregancy, while the open Mem is the open womb giving birth. [Bahir 84]

“The numerical value forty, associated with Mem, then also represents the 40 days during which the embryo is formed.

“In order to understand the meaning of this letter on a deeper level and see how it related to Mikvah, we must delve into a most interesting Midrash (Beraishis Raba 81:2). The Prophet says, (Jeremiah 10:10) ‘The Lord, G-D, is Truth (Emes).’ The Midrash then gives the following explanation:

What is G-D’s seal? Our Rabbi said in the name of Rabbi Reuven,’G-D’s seal is Truth’. Reish Lakish asked, ‘Why is Emes the Hebrew word for truth’? He replied, ‘Because it is spelled Aleph Mem Tav. Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Mem is the middle letter, and Tav is the last letter of the alphabet. God, this says (Isaiah 44:6), ‘I am first, and I am last’

“From this, we see that the letter Mem has a most interesting property. Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, represents the beginning. Tav, the last letter, represents the end. Mem is the letter that represents transition.

“We see this most clearly in the word Emes itself. The first two letters, Aleph Mem, spelled out Em [Pronounced Aim], the Hebrew word for mother. This is the beginning of man. The last two letters Mem Tav, spell out Mes, the Hebrew word for death, the end of man [in a physical sense].

“Most important here, Mem represents the concept of transition and change. Aleph is the past, and Tav is the future, so Mem represents the transition from past to future. As such it is this instant that we call present.

“The past is history and cannot be changed. We have no way of even touching the future. Therefore, the arena of action, where all change takes place, is the present. Symbolic of water, the essence of change as well as the number forty, the essence of birth, the letter Mem also represents the present – the transition between past and future – which is the arena for all change.

“On a deeper level, the transition from past to future also represents an aspect of birth. Indeed, one word for “future” in Hebrew is HaNolad [Avos 2:9], which literally means, “that which is being born”. The womb in which the future is born is the present. This is the letter Mem.

“Thus, when a person enters the Mikvah, he is actually entering the concept of the ultimate present. Past and future cease to exist for him. What he was in the past no longer counts. Even the forty days of formation are no longer an expanse of time, but a volume of water – forty Sa’ah. [The measurement of natural waters is one of the requirements for a Kosher Mikvah]

“Then when he emerges from the Mikvah, he reenters the stream of time as if he were a new being”.

May we be blessed to live fully in the present, and may this learning and the mitzvos of Tzedaka and Mikvah herald a change for Mom and transition from sickness to health!

 Cape Cod is the perfect vacation destination: gorgeous beaches, friendly people and plenty to do. Rabbi Kuti and Rebbetzin Devorah Alperowitz have been working for 14 years to provide a Jewish home away from home for visitors to the area. During the summer, they hold a minyan (prayer service) almost every day in their lovely Chabad House, and have arranged with local Stop and Shops to sell kosher food (hard-to-get items are brought in from Boston). Their next goal is to create a mikvah.

These stories are certainly out-of the ordinary and reflect the Alperowitzes’ dedication to the community: 

Story One:

An couple in their late 40s living on the Cape was involved with the Chabad House and were struggling to have a child. After the Rabbi encouraged them to go to the Mikvah, she became pregnant and had a beautiful daughter.

Story Two:

A woman in the community tried unsuccessfully to have children for a long time. She had used every possible resource at her disposal to have a child, but to no avail. Then she decided to go to a class at the Chabad house led by a guest lecturer who specialized in childbirth and mikvah. She was intrigued by the Mikvah, but didn’t act upon it.

Then one day she found herself stuck at Heathrow airport in London and who should she bump into but the woman who gave the class at Chabad! Moved by the profound message, she returned to the Chabad House and told the Rabbi, “I am ready to do Mikvah”. Following his guidance, she used the mikvah and became pregnant — Mikvah has transitioned her life into Em, a mother. Her thank-you was in the form of a sizable donation to the Mikvah fund. Now she is quite anxious to see it built!

Should you choose to donate in the merit of a segulah (good luck charm) for yourself or your loved ones, you can include a petek (note) that will be read on the day the Mikvah is built, along with a special tefillah (prayer) in your merit. A petek should include your name (preferably in Hebrew, if you have one) and the merit you’d like.