“The gold and the silver, the copper, the iron, the tin and the lead... must be purified with mey nidah (the waters of sprinkling)... you shall pass [it] through water.”

-Matot 31:22-23

This passage, proclaimed as the Jewish people were ready to enter the Land of Israel, presents a basic law relating to the fundamental principle of kashrut, the dietary laws: how to make vessels kosher, fit for use by Jews.

According to some authorities, this passage is also the source for the fundamental law relating to Family Purity, that a menstruant woman must immerse in a mikveh for self-purification.

In these last days of the galut we must be particularly vigilant with these two commandments. Besides their intrinsic significance as basic and perpetual principles of Judaism, they are also a special preparation and catalyst for our anticipated entry into the Land of Israel with the coming of Moshiach.