Washed in the water

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This was originally part of all the 31 Days of Encountering Judaism (see here). But then I came up with too many posts, so I've saved it for a Faith Friday.

 This isn't a current Jewish practice that I know of, but did you know that converts to Judaism went through a baptism to cleanse them of all things pagan? And that the early Christians borrowed the practice for their converts? (Source: In the Shadow of the Temple)

Neat, huh.

Water is still used in parts of Judaism for spiritual cleansing. If you remember, Leviticus is squicked out my menstrual blood and childbirth. Giving birth to new life is also considered holy, so the mikveh is used, the woman immersing herself in living water.

Many Christian groups have moved from a baptism by immersion to sprinkling water on the head so in this the two faith traditions today have largely moved away from this commonality.


I'm still geeked about it as a (to me) discovery.

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