Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 98.66.209.183 (talk) at 00:17, 13 September 2010 (→Use by Nazis in identifying Jews). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Star of David" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Star of David is known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David (Hebrew Template:Hebrew or מגן דוד without nikkud, pronounced in Tiberian Hebrew (the dialect of the Masoretic Bible), often transcribed Māḡēn Dāwīḏ by Biblical Hebrew linguists, and pronounced [maˈɡen daˈvid] in Modern Hebrew, as well as Mogein Dovid or Mogen Dovid in Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish). The Shield of David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism. The Menorah, the candelabra of seven oil lamps from the Temple in Jerusalem, is a more ancient symbol of Jewish identity.

History of the Shield of David

By modern times, the Shield of David hexagram has become a widely recognized symbol to represent the Jewish people. However the origins of this use are complex with obscure developments emerging since medieval times.

The name 'Shield of David' preexists the use of the hexagram symbol itself. The phrase occurs independently as a Divine title in the Siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book , where it poetically refers to the Divine protection of ancient King David and the anticipated restoration of his dynastic house.

Regarding the Jewish use of the hexagram symbol, early Jewish literature does not mention it. The Torah and the rest of the Bible (whose texts stabilized mostly c. 6th century BCE), the Mishna (stabilized at the end of the 2nd century CE) and the rest of the Talmud (stabilized c. 6th century), all lack any reference to it. Similarly the medieval scholars, including Rambam (Maimonides 12th century CE) and the kabbalist Ramban (Nachmanides 13th century), lack any reference. The Zohar (13th century), being the central document of Kabbalah, likewise lacks any reference to the hexagram despite the prominence of the symbolic meaning of six plus one.

The hexagram does appear occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity, apparently as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a stone bearing a hexagram from the arch of a 3-4th century synagogue in the Galilee, and in Italy, a Jewish tombstone bearing a hexagram in Taranto, which may date as early as the third century CE.

The use of the hexagram in a Jewish context as a possibly meaningful symbol may occur as early as the 11th century, in the decoration of the carpet page of the famous Tanakh manuscript, the Leningrad Codex dated 1008. Similarly, the symbol illuminates a medieval Tanakh manuscript dated 1307 belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain. A Siddur dated 1512 from Prague displays a large hexagram on the cover with the phrase, "... He will merit to bestow a bountiful gift on anyone who grasps the Shield of David." The phrase refers to the Divine revelation of Torah that can be grasped as the 'Shield of David', but also identifies the hexagram itself as the referencing symbol.

The precise origin of the use of the hexagram as a Jewish symbol remains unknown, but it apparently emerged in the context of medieval Jewish protective amulets (segulot). A 12th-century Karaite document, Eshkol Ha-Kofer, mentions some kind of symbol called the 'Shield of David' in instructions for an amuletic ritual for the mezuza (which already had an ancient protective function) involving the number seven and angelic names. "Therefore" the Shield of David was "already at this time a sign on amulets".

In the Renaissance Period, in the 16th-century Land of Israel, the book Ets Khayim conveys the Kabbalah of Ha-Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria) who arranges the traditional items on the seder plate for Passover into two triangles, where they explicitly correspond to Jewish mystical concepts. The six sfirot of the masculine Zer Anpin correspond to the six items on the seder plate, while the seventh sfira being the feminine Malkhut corresponds to the plate itself. However, these seder-plate triangles are parallel, one above the other, and do not actually form a hexagram, but later kabbalistic tradition, will reinterpret the hexagram symbol with this same significance, so that the six points corresponds to the six sfirot of the masculine Zeir Anpin, while the central unity itself corresponds to the seventh sfira of the feminine Malkhut. Earlier, the Zohar had already applied this same correspondence to the other, more ancient, symbol of Judaism, the Menora. Its six candelabra branches correspond to the masculine cluster of sfirot while the central stem corresponds to the unifying feminine sfira.

In the 17th century, the Shield of David as the hexagram began to represent the Jewish commuinty generally, when the Jewish quarter of Vienna was formally distinguished from the rest of the city by a boundary stone having the hexagram on one side and the Christian cross on the other. By the 18th century, the Shield appeared to represent the Jewish people in both secular (politics) and religious (synagogue) contexts. Then in the 19th century, it began to signify the Jewish people internationally, when the early Zionist movement adopted it as the symbol of the Jewish people, after the Dreyfus affair in France in the 19th century. From here, other Jewish community organizations adopted it too. In the 20th century, Nazi-Era Germany enacted laws forcing Jews to sew a yellow Shield of David in the form of two overlapping triangles onto their clothing to conspicuously identify themselves, while the leadership carried out its policy of genocide against them during War World 2. With its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel adopted the Shield of David for the Flag of Israel.

Shield of David as a Divine title

In the Jewish prayer book, the term "Shield of David" (but not the symbol) appears at the end of the "Samkhaynu/Gladden us" blessing, which is recited after the reading of the Haftara portion on Saturday and holidays. The term refers directly to God, who shielded the Biblical David in battle and during his flight from Saul. The term may be loosely based on Psalm 18, which is attributed to David, and in which God is compared to a shield (v. 31 and v. 36).

A similar term, "Shield of Abraham" appears in the first blessing of the "Amidah" prayer, which was written in early Rabbinic times (around year 1, a millennium before the first documentation of the term in reference to a six-point star). That term is probably based on Genesis 15:1, where God promises to shield Abraham.

As a Jewish symbol

A popular folk tale etymology has it that the Star of David is literally modeled after the shield of the young Israelite warrior David, who would later become King David. In order to save metal, the shield was not made of metal but of leather spanned across the simplest metal frame that would hold the round shield: two interlocking triangles. No reliable historical evidence for this etymology exists; this theory is refuted by a credible tradition that there was a Menorah engraved upon the shield which King David used in wartime.

Use in Kabbalah

According to Judaic sources, the Star or Shield of David signifies the number seven: that is, the six points plus the center. The earliest known text related to Judaism which mentions the symbol is Eshkol Ha-Kofer by the Karaite Judah Hadassi, in the mid-12th century CE:

"Seven names of angels precede the mezuzah: Michael, Gabriel, etc. ... Tetragrammaton protect you! And likewise the sign, called the 'Shield of David', is placed beside the name of each angel."

However, it should be noted that (1) this book is of Karaite, and not of Rabbinic Jewish origin; and that (2) it does not describe the shape of the sign in any way.

The number seven has religious significance in Judaism, e.g., the six days of Creation plus the seventh day of rest, the six working days in the week plus Shabbat, the Seven Spirits of God, as well as the Menorah in the ancient Temple, whose seven oil lamps rest on three stems branching from each side of a central pole. Perhaps, the Star of David came to be used as a standard symbol in synagogues because its organization into 3+3+1 corresponds to the Temple's Menorah, which was the more traditional symbol for Judaism in ancient times. There are also six words in the Shema, the most important prayer in Judaism, and it is not uncommon to find the Shema written around a Star of David .

In Kabbalah, the Star of David symbolizes the six directions of space plus the center, under the influence of the description of space found in the Sefer Yetsira: Up, Down, East, West, South, North, and Center. Congruently, under the influence of the Zohar, it represents the Six Sefirot of the Male (Zeir Anpin) united with the Seventh Sefirot of the Female (Nukva).

Some Kabbalistic amulets use the symbol to arrange the Ten Sefirot. However, reference to the symbol is nowhere in the classical kabbalistic texts themselves, such as the Zohar and the like. Therefore, its use as a sefirotic diagram in amulets is more likely a reinterpretation of a preexisting symbol.

According to G.S. Oegema -

"Isaac Luria provided the Shield of David with a further mystical meaning. In his book Etz Chayim he teaches that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram: above the three sefirot "Crown", "Wisdom", and "Insight", below the other seven".

Similarly, M. Costa wrote that M. Gudemann and other researchers in the 1920s claimed that Isaac Luria was influential in turning the Star of David into a national Jewish emblem by teaching that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram, but Gershom Scholem proved that Isaac Luria talked about parallel triangles one beneath the other and not about the hexagram. The Star of David at first was only known remotely and would not be considered 'official'. At the time the nearest thing to a Jewish symbol would be a menorah.

Shield form

The Shield of David is not mentioned in ancient rabbinic literature. A supposed Shield of David however has recently been noted on a Jewish tombstone at Taranto, in Southern Italy, which may date as early as the third century CE. Likewise, a stone bearing the Shield from the arch of a 3-4th century synagogue in the Galilee was found.

The earliest Jewish literary source which mentions the "Shield of David" is the Eshkol Ha-Kofer by Judah Hadassi from the middle of the 12th century CE, where seven Shields are used in an amulet for a mezuzah. It appears to have been in use as part of amulets before it was in use in formal Jewish contexts. A manuscript Tanakh dated 1307 and belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain, was decorated with a Shield of David. In the synagogues, perhaps, it was associated with the mezuzah. Originally, the hexagram may have been employed as an architectural ornament on synagogues, as it is, for example, on the cathedrals of Brandenburg and Stendal, and on the Marktkirche at Hanover. A pentagram in this form is found on the ancient synagogue at Tell Hum.

Shield with stars

In 1354, King of Bohemia Charles IV prescribed for the Jews of Prague a red flag with both David's shield and Solomon's seal, while the red flag with which the Jews met King Matthias of Hungary in the 15th century showed two pentagrams with two golden stars. The pentagram, therefore, may also have been used among the Jews as early as the year 1073.

In 1460, the Jews of Ofen (Budapest, Hungary) received King Matthias Corvinus with a red flag on which were two Shields of David and two stars. In the first Hebrew prayer book, printed in Prague in 1512, a large Shield of David appears on the cover. In the colophon is written: "Each man beneath his flag according to the house of their fathers... and he will merit to bestow a bountiful gift on anyone who grasps the Shield of David." In 1592, Mordechai Maizel was allowed to affix "a flag of King David, similar to that located on the Main Synagogue" on his synagogue in Prague. In 1648, the Jews of Prague were again allowed a flag, in acknowledgment of their part in defending the city against the Swedes. On a red background was a yellow Shield of David, in the center of which was a Swedish star.

The Star of David can be found on the tombstones of religious Jews going back hundreds of years in Europe, as it became accepted as the universal symbol of the Jewish people. Following Jewish emancipation after the French revolution, Jewish communities chose the Star of David to represent themselves, comparable to the cross used by most Christians.

Some Orthodox Jewish groups reject the use of the Jewish Star of David because of its association with magic. Neturei Karta and Satmar reject it because they associate it with Zionism.

The vast majority of Spanish and Portuguese Jews do not use the star either. This probably reflects the trends before the forced conversion in Portugal and also its use is Spain. Their symbols are connected with the survival from the Inquisition, like the bird Phoenix.

Many Modern Orthodox synagogues, and many synagogues of other Jewish movements, however, have the Israeli flag with the Star of David prominently displayed at the front of the synagogues near the Ark containing the Torah scrolls.

The star is usually in blue, as on the flag of Israel.

On other flags

The flags of Candaroglu and Beylik of Karaman used the same design, but it depicts the Seal of Solomon, which was a popular Islamic symbol in medieval times.

Use by Nazis in identifying Jews

A Star of David, often yellow-colored, was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust as a method of identifying Jews. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 there were initially different local decrees forcing Jews to wear a distinct sign – in the General Government e.g. a white armband with a blue Star of David on it, in the Warthegau a yellow badge in the form of a Star of David on the left side of the breast and on the back. If a Jew was found without wearing the star in public, they could be subjected to severe punishment.

The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word Jude (German for Jew) inscribed was then extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in the Reich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (by a decree issued on September 1, 1941 signed by Reinhard Heydrich ) and was gradually introduced in other German-occupied areas, where local words were used (e.g. Juif in French, Jood in Dutch). Jewish inmates in concentration camps were later forced to wear similar Nazi concentration camp badges.

Magen David Adom

Magen David Adom (MDA) (Red Star of David or, translated literally, Red Shield of David) is Israel's only official emergency medical, disaster, ambulance service. It is an official member of the International Committee of the Red Cross since June 2006.

According to the Israel Ministry of Foregn Affairs, Magen David Adom was boycotted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which refused to grant the organization membership because "it was ... argued that having an emblem used by only one country was contrary to the principles of universality."

Other commentators claim the ICRC did not recognize the medical and humanitarian use of this Jewish symbol, a Red Shield, or Roth Schild, alongside the Christian cross and the Muslim crescent.

See also

• Anahata
• Chai symbol
• Flag of Israel
• Merkaba
• Seal of Solomon
• Shatkona, an identical Hindu symbol.
• Star of Bethlehem
• Star of David theorem
• Unicursal hexagram

Notes

• In Unicode, the "Star of David" symbol is U+2721 (✡).
• The world's largest star (167 m = 547.9 feet diameter) is in the Smokey Hills Weapons Range, Kansas, USA 38°43′04″N 97°48′24″W / 38.717704°N 97.80673°W / 38.717704; -97.80673

References

1. Judaism A-Z Yacov Newman, Gavriel Sivan
2. Rachel Hachlili, The menorah, the ancient seven-armed candelabrum: origin, form, and significance, Brill, ISSN 1384-2161, 2001:208-209. "Whatever its origins in the Land of Israel or in the Diaspora, during the second century CE - in places such as Rome, Babylon, and North Africa - the menorah came to symbolize the Jewish revolt against the Romans and the Jewish need for self-identity. From the Diaspora it returned to Israel where it probably originated, where it had been used as a symbol from the second or third century on as a symbol of Jewish identity."
3. Sacha Stern, Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings, 1994:86. "These cases demonstrate pictorial symbols can be effective without being explained or even mentioned in writing. This is why archeology and Rabbinic literature do not necessarily meet. The case of the menora a maybe central, experiential feature of Jewish identity."
4. For example, Zohar, Shemot (Sonoco, English trans.), section 2, p. 14b. "R. Simeon discoursed: .. In his going down into Egypt Jacob was accompanied by six angelic grades . Correspondingly Israel was made up of six grades, in correspondence to which again there are six steps to the supernal celestial Throne . .. that number has no bearing on this matter , as we learn from the description of the candlestick , of which it says: 'And there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof: three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof. ... And thou shalt make the lamps thereof seven' (Ex. xxv, 32). the central branch is not counted with the rest, as it says, 'and they shall light the lamps thereof over against it'."
5. "King Solomon's Seal", MFA, King Solomon-s Seal.
6. Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ulmann, "Ask the Rabbi: Magen David", Ohr Somayach , retrieved 2010 May 28.
7. Herbert M. Adler, JQR, vol. 14:111. Cited in "Magen David", Jewish Encyclopedia , retrieved 2010, May 28.
8. Ulmann.
9. "Magen Dawid", Jewish Encyclopida , retrieved 2010 May 28.
10. Rabbi Blumenkrantz, "The Seder", The Laws of Pesach: A Digest 2010: Chap. 9. See also, , retrieved 2010 May 28.
11. "Magen David", Ask the Rabbi , retrieved 2010, May 28.
12. Simon Jacobson, op. ed., "Tzav-Passover: The Seder Plate", A Meaningful Life, , retrieved 2010 May 28.
13. Gershom Scholem shows conclusively they do not form a hexagram. See, Hatakh ha-Zahav, Hotam Shelomoh u-Magen-David (Poalim, Hebrew) 1990:156.
14. See above, Zohar, Shemot (Sonoco, English trans.), section 2, p. 14b.
15. Igra D'pirka 176 cited in Minhag Yisrael Torah 90:4, quoted at Hirhurim-Musings: The Magen David
16. Eshkol Ha-Kofer by Judah Hadassi, 12th century CE
17. What is the Mystical Significance of the Star of David? By Rabbi Naftali Silberberg
18. G.S. Oegema, Realms of Judaism. The history of the Shield of David, the birth of a symbol (Peter Lang, Germany, 1996) ISBN 3-631-30192-8
19. Hatakh ha-Zahav, Hotam Shelomoh u-Magen-David (Poalim, 1990, Hebrew) p.156
20. King Solomon-s Seal
21. Schwandtner, Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum, ii. 148
22. Facsimile in M. Friedmann, Seder Eliyahu Rabbah ve-Seder Eliyahu Ztṭa, Vienna, 1901
23. The National Flag at MFA
24. Polizeiverordnung über die Kennzeichnung der Juden (came into force September 19, 1941)
25. Geneva Vote Paves the Way for MDA Red Cross Membership, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8-Dec-2005
26. Magen David: Shield or Star? ON LANGUAGE, By Philologos, The Jewish Daily Forward June 30, 2006

External links

• 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia on Jewish symbols
• The Archetypal Mandala of India of the Star of David
• The Mystical Significance of the Star of David
• Magen David: From mystical talisman to Zionist symbol -Ynetnews

Template:Link GA

• Star symbols
• Jewish symbols