No, this is not one of the many stepwells I photographed in Rajasthan and Gujerat, seeking an intimate connection to the waters of the underground, to the subconscious, to the springs of the imagination. Rather, it is a medieval mikveh in the German town of Speyer, dug ten meters underground, with three sets of stairs, to reach the 'living waters' as prescribed by Jewish tradition.

Like the fluctuating water levels in the Indian stepwells in dry and monsoon seasons, here too the water rises or falls with the level of the Rhine along which the town is located. It is the only medieval Jewish site still intact in Speyer - the Nazis did not destroy it - probably because it was in a private garden and had not been in use as a mikveh for ages, so they simply did not know it was of any significance to Jews. The ruins of the old medieval synagogue are also part of “the Jewish courtyard”.

And I was in the historic town of Speyer to attend an inspiring ceremony and conference in memory of Paul, and to receive the Mack Foundation prize in his name - while I too was honored as an artist and a person in my own right at the conference. The Mack Foundation was created in memory of Paul’s former student Dr. Michael Mack and his mother, the expressionist painter Elisabeth Mack-Usselmann. I was deeply moved when I understood how important Paul had been to Michael, and that Paul was chosen for the prize (of which he was told a year ago, when he was still with us) not only as an outstanding scholar, but for being the mensch he was - giving his former student his warmth, his intellectual as well as emotional support and empathy.

For me, spending these five days in Speyer was being in liminal space and time, between the emotional intensity and unspeakable beauty of my trip to Curaçao, where I was born, and my return to Jerusalem, drawing my strength from the still waters of the underground - as in my Persephone exhibit - to be able to confront again the horrors that Israel is committing.

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for my Persephone exhibit see: blog and gallery - Photography & Words

and for more photos and texts of my Indian stepwells: Stairway to Water: blog and gallery - Photography & Words