Today,(Sunday) marked the official opening of the most impressive project in Europe’s Jewish world, launching 25 new and superior quality mikvehs (ritual pool) throughout Europe. The project opened with the visit of its manager, Rabbi Yehudah Minzberg to Europe to examine plans for construction of six mikvehs in Germany, Austria and Holland.

Before setting out for his trip this morning, Rabbi Minzberg convened at the RCE offices with Rabbi Israel Yaacov Lichtenstein of the ‘Bnei Yisroel Federation’ and member of the presidency of the Council of European Rabbis, who serves as the chairman of the mikvehs division of the RCE and who is spending some time in Israel just now. Also present was Rabbi Aryeh Goldberg thedeputy directorof the RCE and Rabbi Yosef Katri, who was nominated as organizer of the trip by the RCE.

In the course of the meeting, Rabbi Minzberg was given a final Halachic briefing by Rabbi Lichtenstein, regarding the construction of the mikvehs and the guidance of the local Rabbis as to their operation, after prior coordination with the expert of the centre’s Mikveh’s division, Rabbi Meir Posen. Furthermore, a resolution was made that that all of the mikvehs would be constructed according to all of the various customs so that they meet requirements of a wide range of groups, each, adhering to different customs.

Rabbi Yosef Katri, who organized the trip, said that Rabbi Minzberg would traverse through Germany after starting out at Austria, in its south and will then proceed to Holland in the north. Rabbi Minzberg will return to Israel on Friday morning with a detailed report about all of the planned mikvehs, their initial conditions and the various possibilities concerning their construction, after which resolutions will be made regarding further actions to be taken.