Mem is the letter of "water". It symbolizes the fountain of Divine Wisdom from which our conscious understanding of the Superconscious flows. Just as the waters from subterranean sources sustain living things in the physical world, so our spiritual life is sustained from the Infinite Source by the manifestations of this Divine Wisdom. Mem is the thirteenth letter of the alef-beit, and the significance of the number is shown by its connection to the words for "one" and "love". The sum of the letters of each of these words is thirteen. The union of "love" and "one" is the power to bring God into our limited consciousness. The sum of the two words is 26=2x13 which is the number associated with God's Holy Name (not to be written or uttered out of respect - in some texts Havaya is substituted for it). According to the teachings of Kabbalah, the letter lamed, the soaring tower, signifying man's aspiration towards understanding the Universe, flies in "primordial air". In this "space" there are thirteen mems, the channels which reveal flashes of wisdom on the "screen" of our consciousness. Streams of living water flow from each mem, forming the pool of Living Water in the lower part of the painting. We are all invited by Scripture to partake of this Source of Life, to quench our thirst for the Infinite by drinking from the streams of the Living Water. Mem has two forms: the closed mem can represent the womb, the place of nourishment for the embryo, floating in the water which protects and sustains it. The open mem is the source of the flow of wisdom at the conscious level into the soul from Above. The form of the word for "water" is transformed by a very small change to mean "blemish". 'Concealment' is associated with 'blemish', having the same numerical value of 86. God's magnificence is not only revealed, but also concealed by creation. This is referred to by the verse in the Scriptures, "A sun and shield are Havaya Elokim". It is through the protective shield (Elokim) of knowing God through creation that we are in some way enabled to look at the ONE whose magnificence would blind us if looked at directly. On the painting the word "ONE" is painted on the sun, and the word "Elokim" on the shield. The intersection of the two circles is a shape called the 'mandorla', an ancient symbol for the magnificent insight which can be gained through the contemplation of the paradox of opposites present in the Divine simultaneously.