120 years ago, homesteader Harry Turnoy built a mikvah by hand beside a windmill in Wilton. And when someone tried padlocking the mikvah in Grand Forks, Rabbi Benjamin Papermaster fought back to keep it open. Now, shluchim Rabbi Yonah and Esti Grossman are completing the first modern mikvah in North Dakota.
In 5665 (1905), Harry Turnoy arrived near Wilton, North Dakota, with a dream of building a Jewish life on the prairie. One of the first things he did was build a mikvah for his wife Gittel in a small wooden structure beside their windmill. It wasn’t fancy, but it allowed them to keep taharas hamishpacha even in a remote area.
Years later, their daughter Sophie Trupin recalled how, long after the family had moved away, her brother returned and found the house and barn in ruins – but the cement outline of the mikvah still stood.
North Dakota has a surprisingly rich mikvah history. In the early 1900s, when someone tried to padlock the mikvah in Grand Forks shut, Rabbi Benjamin Papermaster fought back to keep it open for all. In 1912, a widowed store owner named Lena Kopelman signed a contract with the Fargo Hebrew Congregation to maintain a mikvah in her store basement, supplying towels and water for one dollar per visit. The mikvah is now sealed under a concrete slab, but its story lives on.
In the 1970s, with no mikvah options, a frum optometrist in Grand Forks quietly built one in his garage to serve the small Jewish population.
But for the past five decades, there’s been no kosher mikvah at all in the entire state. Women had to drive more than four hours each way to Minneapolis or Winnipeg. For many, it simply wasn’t possible. That’s about to change.
After three years of planning and building, Chabad of North Dakota is nearing completion of a new, fully kosher mikvah in Fargo. The exterior is finished, plumbing is in, and the boros are ready. It’s designed to be modern and comfortable, with everything done according to halacha, allowing women across the state to keep the mitzvah of mikvah locally – many for the first time.
“Until now, committing to mikva meant figuring out four-hour drives, snowstorms, border crossings, and babysitting,” says Esti Grossman. “Now the mikvah will be right here and accessible, giving more families the opportunity to keep this critical mitzvah.”
The final stage of the project includes interior finishings – tile, lighting, and trim – as well as much-needed repairs to the roof and siding of the attached Chabad House. The total remaining cost is $100,000.
A matching campaign is underway now, with every dollar doubled up to $20,000 by Keren Hachomesh.
“This is about bringing taharah back to North Dakota,” says Rabbi Grossman. “It’s a continuation of what families like the Turnoys started over a century ago – and it will serve generations to come.”
The mikvah is expected to open by early summer 5785 (2025).
To contribute and double your impact, visit jewishnorthdakota.com/finishthemikvah.
Help bring this vital mitzvah back to the community.
Because when everything else fades, the mikvah remains.
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