When Rabbi Shneur Havlin moved to Germany about 12 years ago, an area populated by 4,000 Jews, he was shocked to find a city devoid of yiddishkeit. With care and love he erected a Chabad house, and gradually succeeded in pulling in hundreds of local Jews. They now enjoy a daily minyan, and every Shabbos 80-100 people pray, eat and celebrate together.

Rabbi Havlin credits Mikva Tahara as being instrumental in this turnaround. Previously, the closest mikva was 2.5 hours away, in Berlin. Since the completion of the new mikva, dozens have committed to keep family purity and use the mikva on a monthly basis. This led to an outgrowth of yiddishkeit in the area, and multiple Jewish programs are gathering steam.

While our project is complete, the Dresden community requested Mikva Tahara’s assistance in funding and installing a safe gas-powered heating system in the mikva. Given the age of the building, they are currently using a live electric heating system, which can present serious physical danger. We hope to raise the additional $35,000 in the coming months.