[RBS] Public Service: Mikveh Complaint Filing

[Catriel Lev]

As a public service I bring to the community's attention the information I have found about to how to file a complaint if someone has been mistreated at a Mikveh. For the public good, in order to correct the situation, women who have endured mistreatment of any kind at the Mikveh are requested to file formal complaints (and this is true of any Mikveh anywhere in Israel).


Here is what I learned about filing such a complaint in Bet Shemesh:
Complaints about mistreatment at the Mikveh (including any physical mistreatment or threats, as well as violation of a woman's right to use the Mikveh according to her own Minhag) may be filed with Rav David Spector of the local Rabbinate. His phone numbers are: 052-385-9105, and 999-4987; and he meets with people at his home on Reuven Street in Scheinfeld at certain hours by appointment. He also has an office at the Rabbinate building downtown on Abba Naamat Street, and appointments with him at his office at the Rabbinate building can be made through the Rabbinate phone numbers: 991-1361, 991-2867. Rav Spector's Email address is: spektor at neto.net.il (This information is also available in the Shemeshphone on page 25e of the blue pages in English).


Anyone who knows women who experienced mistreatment at the Mikveh (even if they were only "threatened" that they will not be allowed in the Mikveh pool unless they perform an injurious process or behave in contradiction to the Psak that they have received), should please encourage them to file a formal complaint. It is understandable that women, who have gone through an experience as traumatic as some of these experiences have been, might not want to dredge up the unpleasant memories by going through the formal complaint process; but the many oral complaints received so far by the women dealing with this do not result in any action being taken to correct the situation, so it is for the public good that women are being requested to file formal complaints if they have endured mistreatment of any kind at the Mikveh (and this is true of any Mikveh anywhere in Israel). Only formal complaints can help correct the situation, and, the more women who formally file their sincere complaints about unjustifiable behavior toward them, the more chance there is of ensuring that nothing like this will be allowed to occur in the future.


Catriel Lev
Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
Mobile Phone: 050-205-7867
Telephone: 02-991-4332