Eclesiastés 4:9 Halajá: Gray Matter II

Due (in part) to this problem, most contemporary mikva’ot employ both zeri’ah and hashakah. If either process fails, then the other serves as a back up. Rav Avraham Chaim Na’eh (Shiur Mikvah, p. 165) notes that the accepted practice in Jerusalem is to employ both zeri’ah and hashakah. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Teshuvot Igrot Moshe, Y.D. 1:111) similarly recommends using both hashakah and zeri’ah whenever possible without great financial difficulty. Moreover, most mikva’ot also use hamshachah (as described in our previous chapter), in addition to the zeri’ah and hashakah processes, to further insure their validity. This combination recalls the words of Kohelet, “Two is better than one… and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (4:9-12).