Legal regulations of ritual bathing establishments (mikvah) for the Jewish population in the Second Polish Republic. Outline of the problem.

Abstract

The Jewish population, who arrived in Poland in the 11th century, constituted one tenth of the population in the Second Polish Republic. They had the constitutionally guaranteed right to freely profess the Mosaic religion, including ritual baths. Water, understood as a symbol of spiritual purification, is present in all the main religions of the world. However, it occupies a special place in Judaism. The mikvah, a ritual bath, is required in many cases of spiritual and physical uncleanness. In Poland, reborn after the partitions, Jewish mikvahs constituted more than half of all bathing establishments – public baths. Pursuant to the regulations governing the functioning of Jewish communities, introduced in 1919, their duty was to maintain ritual baths. Subsequent regulations defined this activity only in terms of the competence of the religious community. Commercial mikvahs were taxed like ordinary businesses. In the interwar period, sanitary regulations concerning mikvahs were included in two ordinances – in 1921 and in 1936. The latter regulation was in force until 2002, i.e. in three different forms of Polish statehood. Pursuant to the 1997 Act on the State’s Relationship to Jewish Religious Communities in the Republic of Poland, Jewish communities still care for ritual baths.