Halachic Highlights

Question: What should a child call his father who is also his rebbe muvhak?

Short Answer: The prevalent custom is for a child to refer to his father as “Father” (or Daddy, Totty, Aba, etc.) as opposed to “Rebbe,” even if his father is also his rebbe muvhak. Nevertheless, there were certain poskim who referred to their father by the title of “rebbe.”

Question: May one add chlorine to a mikvah?

Short Answer: Although one may not add anything to a mikvah that changes the color of the water, it is permitted to add clear chlorine to a mikvah, especially if it absolutely does not change the appearance of the water.

Question: Must one honor all rebbeim the same way?

Short Answer: A rebbe muvhak is the rebbe who teaches a person the “majority” of his Torah. There is a debate whether a person has a rebbe muvhak nowadays.

Question: What is the required depth of mikvah waters?

Short Answer: Water in a mikvah must be a certain height above the middle of the immerser’s body. Accordingly, many mikvaos are approximately four feet deep.

Question: May a mikvah melt snow to fill the mikvah instead of water (i.e., if there is not much rainfall)?

Short Answer: According to many poskim, snow may be used to fill the mikvah, but one should not immerse until the snow melts. Nevertheless, there are certain stringencies involved in transporting and melting the snow.

Question: May one immerse in a private mikvah that was built or is maintained without rabbinic oversight?