Surprisingly, the owner didn’t seem at all put off at the idea of building a miniature swimming pool in his basement

Rabbi Refael Kruskal is the CEO of Tikva Children’s Home, an organization founded in Odessa, Ukraine in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, with the goal of providing a warm home and quality education to the homeless and abandoned Jewish children in Odessa. For nearly 30 years, Rabbi Kruskal built the community together with Rabbi Shlomo Baksht, slowly revitalizing a generation whose religious spark had been snuffed out under the Communist regime. Mosdos were founded, classes were organized, and a community began to blossom — until the Russian war machine invaded Ukraine, putting the entire community in peril.

With the guidance and assistance of the Agudah’s Vaad Hatzalah, Rabbi Kruskal made a painful decision — the entire community would flee to Neptun, Romania, a beautiful summer resort town off the Romanian seacoast. While they initially were only prepared for a very temporary stay, they soon realized that Putin’s forces were not retreating, and the group settled in for the long haul. Rabbi Kruskal witnessed open acts of Hashgachah in his quest to procure a school building and proper shul, but his recent experience was nothing short of miraculous.

With the closest mikveh a three-hour drive away, Rabbi Kruskal received instructions from daas Torah to start plans for construction of a mikveh. Somewhat warily, he approached the owner of the hotel they were staying in and asked him if the new group of refugees could construct a mikveh in his basement. Surprisingly, the owner didn’t seem at all put off at the idea of building a miniature swimming pool in his basement, and even offered to help. He explained that he had previously worked for the Vatican, and was excited to help construct a pool with “holy waters,” as he put it. As an additional “coincidence,” he had a background in engineering.

With the owner’s go-ahead, the next question was where exactly to build the mikveh. The hotel owner determined that the ideal location — from a purely technical and aesthetic standpoint — was in a certain spot in the basement that was under the only flat roof in the entire structure, a necessary halachic factor.

The mikveh was completed in record time last week, but there was still yet another obstacle to overcome. In the summer, this region typically sees little rainfall, and the mikveh’s construction was of little help without rain. But that issue was soon solved too, when the heavens opened and rain began to fall… and fall… and fall for two full days, filling up the bor with the requisite amount of rainwater.

Today, there is an open, functional mikveh in Neptun, Romania, and the hotel owner confided in Rabbi Kruskal that “he now believes in miracles.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 919)