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Perhaps, this is an overly "trivial" question. But, at all the mikva'ot that I have attended, only one man was in the mikvah at a time. Perhaps, this is merely a space issue. But, is there any halacha that prevents more than one perosn being in the mikvah at the same time?

I can't say as to what happens in a women's mikvah, as I haven't been to one while women are there. I assume that the halacha is the same.

DanF
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  • Last time I was at the ocean there were thousands of people in at the same time. YMMV. – Double AA Dec 10 '19 at 02:12
  • I actually just saw somwhere that it should be 1 at a time, have to find it – sam Dec 10 '19 at 02:25
  • https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%94_%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%96_%D7%95 https://hebrewbooks.org/shas.aspx?mesechta=19&daf=16&format=pdf @sam – Double AA Dec 10 '19 at 02:35
  • @doubleaa , I dont think that's what the OP had in mind,but that's def an answer the way the question is asked. I saw a source for when it's more than 40 seah – sam Dec 10 '19 at 02:48
  • There may be a difference between men and women. For men, mikvah is a custom, for women a mitzvah. – Epicentre Dec 10 '19 at 08:05
  • Blind guy and his guide in the last chapter of Yevamos – Heshy Dec 10 '19 at 11:38
  • FWIW last time I was in a mikvah (down the street from the Ohel Lubavitch in Queens) I wasn't the only one in the mikvah when I dunked. – ezra Dec 11 '19 at 03:40
  • Most mikvaos in EY that I know of are built to have more that one person at a time, and on erev Shabbos always do. – Mordechai Dec 12 '19 at 05:27
  • Indeed, I have seen that most mikva'ot are large enough for more than one. Although, it may be crowded around the steps. However, even with a large size, I've rarely seen more than one person enter at a time. – DanF Dec 15 '19 at 10:47

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There is no halacha stating that only one person may be at one time. In populated jewish communities, usually the mikva will be full of people in the mornings and friday afternoon.

The only exceptions are mentioned in Shulchan Aruch. There is a list of people that shouldn't go together, for example a Father and Son see Shulchan Aruch Even Ezer 23:6.

Generally woman go by themselves, however that is purely for modesty reasons and is not halacha. (Based on my wife)

user218076
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