QUESTION:
What are the kavanos (intentions) that a man should think about when immersing in the mikveh?
ANSWER:
Do true teshuvah before immersing in the mikveh, and then again when you are under the water. Think that you are willing to die al kiddush Hashem. On your way out of the mikveh, become aware that you are becoming a new being. The mikveh is the secret of teshuvah [when makes you into a completely new being]. When one is under the water of the mikveh, he is like a dead person, where he is a world of entirely water, the second day of Creation, when there was only water and no dry land yet, with no place for a living being to survive. As a hint, the gematria of the words mayim karim (cold water, the cold water of a mikveh) is equal to the word meis, a dead person. Exiting the mikveh is like being born again. When you are under the water it is like being a fetus inside the mother, and upon exiting the water of the mikveh, you are being born again, exiting the mother’s womb. Thus, coming out of the mikveh is a resemblance of becoming born again.
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