In the book of Genesis, we are told  how our world  begun.   The upper waters were separated from the lower water and God told the lower waters to gather into seas and oceans, what is called a Mikveh Hamayim.  Mayim in Hebrew signifies Water. The word Mayim starts and ends with the letter Mem.  In the background of this ink and acrylic painting, one perceives the waters from  above and the waters from below.

The macro earthly world, just like the human micro world, always finds its beginning in the water, in the essence of the letter Mem.  God made the water to be the place where life begins.  Every gathering of water , if you let it stand long enough will develop some forms of life. 

The representation of the letter Mem in this abstract Judaica painting is the one of the open Mem (when at the end of a word , this letter Mem become a closed Mem).  Its shape is the combination of the two other hebrew letters, a VAV and a KAF which added together have a total numerical value of 26, a very cabalistic  number which is related to the name of God.

The godly gift of creation within the womb -symbolized by the letter Mem- has been transmitted to mankind.  The ability of the woman to integrate the gift of the seed deposited in her by the man, allows her to become a mother  - “em” in hebrew - and he a father. It is only because of  woman , the filter of history and the developer of his essence, that man becomes a creator. The manifestation of love between a couple generates the creation of a new being.

The letter MEM is also, in the Jewish language, the symbol of “Em”, the mother, where all life begins. Naturally in most languages, the word for mother has some kind of sound M in it. 

The shape of this Judaica letter Mem can be visualized as a womb, which is the fetus’ fountain of life.  It has an opening at the bottom, to enable the flow to come out.  It has an embryo forming and growing, ready to come out and to exist ( which means to exit and to be).

Any creation has to go through a  primary phase of being in Mem, in the “Mayim” - hebrew word for waters, and emerging from it in a secondary phase.

The letter MEM, as all hebrew letters, has a numerical value that correspond to it.  The value of MEM is 40. And any life creating field is related to 40.  40 is the number of days to form the fetus. After 40 days of  flooding at the time of Noah, a new world emerged.  After 40 days on the Sinai mountain, Moses was ready to bring down a new law.  40 measures of water is the required amount for a ritual bath called Mikveh, from which one comes out as a new person.  40 continuous days is the numbers of days that a person needs to change and create a new habit and do Teshuvah.

I chose to paint the Judaica letter Mem, not only because it relates to my name, but because it is the  source of all wisdom.  This hebrew letter symbolizes the fountain of Divine wisdom of Torah and it is a perfect piece of art for meditation. Wisdom flows from it and inspires you as you stare at this painting.  Like it is written in the book of Proverbs:  “The Flowing Stream, The Source Of Wisdom”.