Conversion requirements vary by denomination. The mikveh is required for Orthodox and Conservative conversions. It may be optional for Reform and/or Reconstructionist conversions. And yes, if you go in the mikveh, it's a clothing-free environment. But it's private.

It's a ritual bath. As Trudy says, it's used after women's periods, but they're also used as a ritual cleansing. If someone is going to convert, they need to have a mikvah, a bar/bat mitzvah, and I forget what else.

ETA: I was so young when my mother converted (and took us with her), I only vaguely remember the mikvah, and the naming ceremony.

So no drop of blood from the genital region is required by men?

I think that's one of those weird things that I don't think really happens, like fucking through a hole in a sheet.

Again, it depends upon denomination. Yes, the symbolic drop of blood (if a man is already circumcised) is required for Orthodox and possibly Conservative conversions. Probably not for Reform or Reconstructionist.

That's what I thought. I called bullshit but was curious.

ETA:This was to pd. Before I saw bobbi's post. So interesting.

Yep. Drop of blood is required. Mikveh is required. And mikveh is naked, and for conversion, there's generally someone there to witness it. (Actually, even for none-conversion uses, there's a mikveh attendent who makes sure that you get totally underwater and checks to make sure you're clean enough to go in -- there's not supposed to be any barrier between your skin and the water, so you take a shower first, and remove contacts and nail polish and jewelry and everything, and clean out under your fingernails, and all kinds of little things like getting rid of loose scabs.)

Also, there's no bar/bat mitzvah required for conversion. The bar/bat mitzvah ceremony and party as we know it now is a fairly recent innovation -- as soon as a boy turns 13 or a girl turns 12, he or she is considered a bar/bat mitzvah (son/daughter of the commandments). The ceremony is to commemorate this, not to actually cause it. Any adult convert is already considered to have bar/bat mitzvah status simply by being an adult Jew. Lots of synagogues will have a special bar/bat mitzvah-type service for converts, but it's not required.

Profitability experts say wireless and banking companies routinely discover that 100% or more of their profits are attributable to just 30% of their customers.

This would work if the other 70% were loss-making for the company on a net basis. Like, "Our profits were $55 last year with ten clients. These three were worth $30 each, but these seven, each of them cost $45 to service and they only paid $40 each. They suck."

Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

Well sure, he can't catch their souls if he's all the way out in the hall when they die!

I also don't think that blood doping should be considered doping (although if it's cheating, it's cheating, as ita says). But that's a whole long bodies and boundaries thing and, again, finals week.

I heard NPR call it an illegal blood transfusion, which is, I think, more accurate. Still bad, but accurate.

Hope finals week passes quickly!