“The sun somehow managed to stay away from all those narrow streets where either by historical accident or royal decree, most of Essaouira’s synagogues were located. Most of the town’s Jews flocked into these synagogues for prayers. The most eerie of all religious occasions was the monthly ritual BIRKAT HALVANAH. These streets were always dark, empty and forlorn, too foreboding to frequent even during the day. Even this reasssuring adult presence presented a less than soothing image to a child when the anemic light of the moon reflected only off the pages of the prayer books. Any ‘left over1 light was absorbed by the black hats, the black beards and the black garments, leaving visible only the ‘wings’ created by the white prayer books’ pages.”
– Raphael Bouganim
Size: 36″ x 32″, Medium: oil on canvas