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The Shield of David or Magen
David in Hebrew, מָגֵן דָּוִד with nikkud or מגן דוד] in Ashkenazi Hebrew
and Yiddish is a generally recognized symbol of
Jewish Community and Judaism. It is named after King
David of ancient Israel; and its usage began in the
Middle Ages, alongside the more ancient symbol of
the menorah. Geometrically it is the hexagram.
With the establishment of the State of Israel in
1948 the Star of David on the Flag of Israel has
also become a symbol of Israel.
As a Jewish symbol
According to some Judaic sources, the Star/Shield of
David signifies the number seven: that is, the six
points plus the center. The earliest extant Jewish
text to mention it is the Eshkol Ha-Kofer by a
Karaite named Judah Hadassi, from the 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." |
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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. And so on. 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.
Exact origins of the symbol's relation to Jewish
identity are unknown. Several theories were put
forward. According to one hypothesis[citation
needed], Star of David comprises two of the three
letters in the name David. In its Hebrew spelling
(דוד), it contains only three characters, two of
which are "D" (or "Dalet", in Hebrew). In ancient
times, this letter was written in a form much like a
triangle, similar to the Greek letter Delta (Δ),
with which it shares a sound and the same (4th)
position in their respective alphabets, as it does
with Latin. The symbol may have been a simple family
crest formed by flipping and juxtaposing the two
most prominent letters in the name. |
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The
Israeli Flag: The flag of Israel was adopted on October 28,
1948, five months after the country's establishment. It
depicts a blue Star of David on a white background, between
two horizontal blue stripes. The blue color is mandated
only as "dark sky-blue",[1] and varies from flag
to flag, ranging from a hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded
almost as dark as navy blue, to hues about 75% toward pure
cyan and shades as light as very light blue.[2] The flag
was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891. The basic
design recalls the Tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which
is white with blue stripes. The hexagram in the centre is
the Magen David ("shield of David"). It became
a Jewish symbol starting in late medieval Prague, and was
adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897.
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Some researchers have theorized that the hexagram
represents the astrological chart at the time of
David's birth or anointment as king. The hexagram is
also known as the "King's Star" in astrological
circles, and was an important astrological symbol in
Zoroastrianism.
The earliest archaeological evidence for the Jewish
use of the symbol comes from an inscription
attributed to Joshua ben Asayahu in late 7th century
BCE Sidon. [2]
"Practical" Kabbalah makes use of this sign,
arranging the Ten Sephiroth (sefirot, spheres) in
it, and placing it on amulets. However, the sign is
nowhere to be found in 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
magical symbol. According to G.S. Oegema,
"Isaac Luria provided the Shield of David with a
further mystical meaning. In his book "Etz Hachayim"
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".
M. Costa wrote that M. Gudemann and other
researchers in the 1920s claimed that Isaac Luria
influenced the becoming of the Star of David 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.
Kabbalistically, the Star/Shield 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 (Nekuva).
A popular folk etymology has it that the Star of
David is literally modeled after the shield of the
young Israelite warrior David (later to be 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.
Shield form
The Shield of David is not mentioned in ancient
rabbinic literature. A supposed David's shield
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 (Schwandtner, Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum,
ii. 148). The pentagram, therefore, may also have
been used among the Jews. It occurs in a manuscript
as early as the year 1073 (facsimile in M. Friedmann,
Seder Eliyahu Rabbah ve-Seder Eliyahu Zta, Vienna,
1901).
In 1460, the Jews of Ofen (Budapest, Hungary)
received King Mathios Kuruvenus 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" to
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 centre of which was a Swedish star. |
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provides a wide selection of all types of Judaica,
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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
hexagram Star of David because of its association
with magic and the occult. They do not recognize it
as a Jewish symbol.
Neturei Karta and Satmar reject it because they
associate it with Zionism.
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.
Another interesting thing to Jews (and non-Jews
alike) is that by highlighting lines of the Star of
David that you can spell out every letter in the
hebrew alphabet.
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Use by the Nazis
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.[7] 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.
Claims have been made that Hitler chose the star
because of his occultist beliefs. See the work by O.
J. Graham.
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.
See also
* Chai symbol
* Flag of Israel
* Seal of Solomon
* Star of Bethlehem
* Merkaba |
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