Mikveh attendant

I want to ask two questions, if this is something you can advise me on, since it’s not exactly straight halacha.

First of all, who is ultimately responsible for a Kosher tevilah, me or the mikvah matron? I ask because I wear nail polish, fingers and toes, and one of the mikva ladies gives me a little trouble each time I come and she’s working. Says SHE never would wear such a thing, and can’t be responsible if she misses some. Come on, let’s admit it’s not that difficult, in good light, to make sure that all the pink is gone!!!!!!!!!! So, I guess I have to ascertain that myself - so what’s she there for, just to make sure that my whole body & hair are submerged during tevilah?

Because, in general, all any of them do is glance at my hands & feet and then check my back. I can’t rely on just that, can I?
Next and lastly – for some reason, the cleaning lady they hired is a old, old erlich lady – from a big Yichus’dike family, and it just bothers me tremendously that she’s cleaning up after me. So not only do I have the pressure of the judgmental mikvah lady, I’ve been washing my own floor and emptying the garbage, etc.

I mean, I know that for Shabbos they say Rabbi Akiva cut up vegetables and another big rabbi would do the sweeping in his own house and that wasn’t considered demeaning, it was considered lekovod Shabbos.

So - are my thoughts valid? I appreciate your imput. Many thanks.

Dear questioner,

Thank you for your question.

The ultimate responsibility for properly preparing for immersion rests on you, not the mikveh lady. The job of the attendant is to assure that your whole body, including all your hair, is submerged. She is also there to help double check trouble spots such as the back. This is double checking only; the initial inspection should be done by you.

There is no reason that you cannot wear nail polish as long as you take the time and effort to remove it before immersion.

Cleaning the mikveh should not be regarded as demeaning work - in many smaller mikvaot there is no daily cleaning lady (deep cleaning is done once or twice a week), and all women are expected to clean up after themselves. In your mikveh, the woman hired for the job agreed to the work that she is doing. If you want to be sure her work load is reasonable and not demeaning, then just pick up after yourself - for example, make sure not to leave stray hairs on the sink or dirty tissues on the floor.

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases.

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