My Mother went to the Mikveh

B"H

Until a week ago, Israel's headlines were full of the Emmanuel case where Ashkenazi haredi parents refused to let their daughters study with Sephardi girls at the same Beit Yaakov school.

Someone from Mea Shearim, very much in favour of the Ashkenazi side, told me the following difference between the behaviour of Ashkenazi haredi girls and their Sephardi counterpart.

"Once a Sephardi girl walked into the classroom and the teacher asked her why she was late. The girl answered: My mother went to the Mikveh last night".

Explanation:

This could mean that the girl's parents had sex at night, as this is quite common for a married couple (when the wife had been to the Mikveh). After the wife comes out of the Mikveh, the couple usually has a romantic evening together.

However, the Mea Shearim woman I spoke to wasn't to shocked about a sex issue but rather about the fact that the children knew when their mother went to the Mikveh. "This is one of the differences between Sepharadim and Ashkenazim, she said. The Sepharadim are far too open with their personal matters but we (Ashkenazi Haredim) keep it more modest and personal".