Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu
Rabbi Shmuel EliyahuRabbi Shmuel Eliyahu

Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu has said that many women who were not in the habit of immersing in a mikvah (ritual bath), are now doing so.

"Many women who for years did not come to the mikvahs, are now coming to immerse, in ever-growing numbers," he said.

"The situation that Israel has found itself in over the past few months connects people to their roots. At one mikvah, located in a secular neighborhood in Tzfat, the number of women immersing has doubled several times in the past month. Apparently the desire to become clean and purify yourself is stronger than all fears."

He added: "Many people have told us that many of their friends asked them how to keep Shabbat (the Sabbath). People who never saw Shabbat and never kept Shabbat want a taste of it. There's no temptation to travel or visit places of entertainment, and people want to come closer to the Creator."

He also said that those who "asked what they should answer [their friends]" received a photograph of the answers.