Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: The only Mikvah between Vancouver and Calgary opens in Kelowna, B.C.
Description: For years, Fraidy Hecht of Kelowna, B.C., had to go to great lengths each month to fulfil the ancient requirement for religious Jewish women to immerse themselves in a ritual bath known as a mikvah.
In the summers, Hecht could use the nearby lake, in a pinch; but in winter, it meant a five-hour road trip to Vancouver to find a mikvah—not just time-consuming, but occasionally treacherous when the weather is bad.
For the past 14 months, Chabad synagogues in several small Jewish communities across North America—including Kelowna, and also Saskatoon and Regina—have been fundra...