The Mikveh Waters (Makkot 4a)

If there was a giant oil spill in the gulf of Mexico, would the waters be invalidated as a mikveh?

Today, the gemara debates whether a mikveh becomes invalid when different amounts of either drawn water or other liquid substances mix with the free flowing mikveh waters. The first round of discussions focuses on a mikveh that does not yet contain the necessary amount of water to make it valid (forty se'ah). The rabbis discuss what happens if a small amount of drawn water enters the mikveh, and what happens if that drawn water was diluted by another substance like wine (which changes the color) or milk (which does not change the color). Even though there are different opinions on each of these circumstances, it is clear that the amount of outside liquid does matter in determining if the entire mikveh is invalidated.

The next case discusses what happens if a barrel of such a substance (drawn water or other liquid substance) comes in contact with an open body of water, like the Mediterranean Sea or a river. Rav holds that there are different rulings for a sea verses a river. A sea is stationary (קיימא) and maintains the foreign substance whereas a river has a current which disperses the substance to a new area by the time a person immerses (4a2).

So what about a gulf? A gulf is in some ways stationary like a sea, but it also has a current like a river. Many predict that the oil in the gulf will remain for years and years in addition to also making its way via current into the greater Atlantic ocean.

I have almost no doubt that the rabbis would say the oil spill in the gulf has rendered the waters invalid for mikveh immersion. I wonder though, what happens when the oil moves up the coast of the United States and into the greater Atlantic Ocean? What percentage of oil makes a gigantic body of water invalid and does it matter if one immerses in a safe zone that is surrounded by troubled waters?

Though we obviously don't need the Talmud to teach us that too much of a foreign substance (especially oil!) is never a good thing for fresh flowing water, I think we can learn something from the presence of this discussion in the gemara.

With all the anger, drama and finger pointing going on with the situation in the gulf, this passage reminds me that this issue is so much greater than money, politics, and even the environment. This is truly an issue of holiness. The water of a mikveh is supposed to be fresh flowing because it represents the mayim chayim, the living waters, that sustain us and purify us. Water is in many ways the essence of holiness. If we want to strive for holiness in our world, we must dedicate ourselves to protecting our waters. Sure, we may accidently spill a bottle of wine or even a barrel of oil, but we must absolutely do everything in our power to prevent this type of spill from ever occurring again.