Immersing in the Rambam’s Mikvah
There’s a well-known Rambam at the end of the halachos of mikvah in which he says, “Just as when a person immerses in a mikvah, he becomes cleansed even though nothing on his body actually changed—so too, a person who has in mind to purify his nefesh from its impurities [thoughts of sin and improper thoughts], the very moment that he decides to separate himself from these impurities, and he’s immersed himself into the ‘waters of knowledge [of Hashem]’—he’s immediately deemed pure. As the pasuk says, åæø÷úé òìéäí îéí èäåøéí åèäøúí îëì èåîàåúéëí, Hashem Himself purifies us when we only make a firm decision to become pure.
A person, in whatever matzav he may find himself, when he realizes the error of his thoughts... he finds himself thinking in negative, unhealthy ways—he must remember: I want to separate myself from these thoughts! Help me, Ribbono shel Olam, to let go of these ways of thinking.
Or when a person thinks in ways of ëçé åòåöí éãé, my might and the power of my hands, and he counsels himself. “Do teshuvah! But how do I do teshuvah?! Daven to Hashem that He should help me separate myself from these ways of thinking. I don’t want to think like this. Help me rid myself of these ways of thinking. I want to immerse myself in the waters of knowledge [of Hashem].”
Always Accessible
This mikvah, i.e., the ability to purify ourselves wherever we are, is always accessible to us. One of the Gerer Rebbes once said, “What did the Yidden do in the Midbar where they didn’t have a mikvah?! They immersed in the Rambam’s mikvah!”
A person must have the ability to toivel in the Rambam’s mikvah (by making a firm decision to separate himself from impurities and thus become instantly pure). Not tomorrow, now! “But,” one will say, “what can I do? I have no mikvah!” Immerse yourself in the Rambam’s mikvah! He’ll say, ehrliche Yidden would run to the mikvah if they became angry—for when a person has ka’as, the neshamah runs away from him. “But I’m not on this level, and also practically, I don’t have the ability to immerse in the mikvah so often.” But the Rambam’s mikvah you do have!
If you’re unhappy with the ka’as that has filled you, immerse in the Rambam’s mikvah! Have in mind to separate yourself from the ways of thinking that brought you to the anger in the first place.
