- Mikvah
The Mikvah literally means a collection of water. In this oil painting, The Mikvah depicts a strictly supervised bathhouse supervised by matrons and used for the ritualistic immersion of a soon to be bride into a living body of water for the purpose of purifying her. This presumes that whether virginal or not, she needs to be purified. The existence of a mikvah was considered so important to Orthodox Judaism, that an Orthodox community was required to construct one before building their synagogue.
Look closely at the painting and you will note that the resisting bride to be being urged into the living, active water by two matrons, is being watched through two small windows by religiously garbed Hasidim who are not permitted even a glimpse. Men will be men.
