Franz Rosenzweig

There's a photo of Franz Rosenzweig ((1886–1929) cut in the shape of the Star of David on the cover of his book The Star of Redemption (ISBN 0-299-20720-X).
There's another on the cover of the first edition of this book published on 1921 (in German).
In this book Franz Rosenzweig builds his philosophy around the shape of the Star of David, composed of two conceptual triangles which together form the basis of Jewish belief: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption; God, Israel, and World.

The Shape of the Star

This is a partial list of potential possible designs of the Star of David (not including materials and colors):

1. Superimposing two triangles
2. Superimposing two triangles so that their lines are interwoven
3. Three superimposed congruent parallelograms or rhombuses
4. A regular hexagon with six equilateral triangles upon each of its edges
5. Three “butterflies”
6. “paper hat” mirrored along a horizontal axis
7. Six Alpha letters (Hexalpha) or six A letters
8. Made from 3 W's
9. Star of David leaning on "two legs" (two triangles instead of one)
10. Star of David made from curved lines instead of straight lines

 See : Black, Max (1979). More about metaphor. In: Andrew Ortony (ed.), Metaphor and thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19-43.

=

Also:

Double Lined

Drawn by hand

Drawn by pair of compasses

Embossed

Empty or full (circumference only)

Engraved

In a circle

In a hexagon

In a lattice

In a square

In two intertwined squares

Made from dots

Made from letters (micrography)

On a round object

Partial Star of David (made from unconnected triangles)

Surrounded by inscriptions

Surrounding a circle

Surrounding a flower

Surrounding a lily

Surrounding a pentagram

Surrounding a picture (like Theodor Herzl)

Three dimensional (like Yevu Yashir's design)

With a dot (like in alchemy)

With inscription inside (like Zion)

What I learned from this partial list is:

That there is no uniform shape that everybody has to obey (like in the flag).

That there is no limit to the designers' imagination…

"O my dove..."

Four sparrows found shelter in a Shield of David built into the wall of an old building in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Now I understand why it is called a shield.

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely

(Song of Songs 2:14)
This unbelievable Photo is courtesy of Kawkawpa from Flickr

Opalit

For my birthday I got this original Opalit stone with a silver Star of David. I added a string and started wearing it in order to remind me of my blog

Mosaic

There is an interesting connection between Mosaics and Stars of David. Why? I'm just asking the question and waiting for a learned answer. Here are some examples I stumbled upon recently:
Artist Akiva K. Segan presents on his web page some slides of the phases of his Star of David project. He constructed two wooden frames to separate the drawing and the mosaic. He documented the project on film.
Making Stars of David from mosaics was common thousands of years ago: in Ein Yael in southern Jerusalem; in St. Euthymius (Khan el Akhmar in Mishor Adummim, east of Jerusalem); Construction workers found in Ramle, near Tel Aviv, Israel, a Moslem six-pointed star embedded into a mosaic floor from the 8th century CE.
Marc Chagall designed in the Israeli parliament building a floor of mosaics. One of the main subjects described in it is the Star of David.
Aviva Beigel made a Star of David mosaic, sand on wood, titled Present Situation. It expresses what she feels towards the current state of affairs in Israel.
Even Zeev Golan is selling on the BiblicalGallery neckwear with a Star of David mosaic pattern.

Destroyed Settlements

After Israel finished evacuating all Jewish settlements in Gaza, in August 2005, Aharon Shevo, artist and illustrator, designed a torn Star of David with the inscription of the names of 21 settlements that were destroyed. On the background of that star there's a picture of the Titus gate in order to associate the traumatic experience of leaving the settlements with the going of Jews into exile 2000 years ago.

Captivating Light

Photo courtesy of Lisa Carmichael from Pbase who wrote to me:

The star is actually a window in the sanctuary of a synagogue in Los Angeles. They are a client of mine, and one day while I was waiting for meeting to begin I wandered around with my camera, looking for things to shoot. The light coming through the colored paines of glass was captivating - really beautiful. I am Christian, and really appreciate any heartfelt expression of one's faith, which is what this Star of David represented to me.

 

What Star of David?

David Landau wrote in 1995 an article titled: Ancient Synagogues in the Holy Land - What Synagogues?
In this article he claimed that some of what archeologists call "Ancient Synagogues in the Holy Land" are in fact Roman temples built by Maximinus Daia (305-313 C.E.) in order to fight the rising Christian religion, and not Jewish Synagogues.
Since he wrote his article 11 years ago I sent him an E-mail asking if he still believes in his theory or did he change his mind with the time that passed since he brought it up? His answer was:
Yes, I still believe that those ancient buildings weren't synagogues
If David Landau's theory is right the meaning from my point of view is that the "first" Jewish Star of David, which was found in Capernaum was not Jewish!

The Name of the Star

Philologos discusses why the same symbol is called a Shield of David in Hebrew and a Star of David in English and arrives to the conclusion that

The earliest recorded Jewish name for it is hotam Shelomo or seal of Solomon, a term that entered Hebrew and many European languages as a translation of the Arabic khatam Suleyman… Moreover, the Arabs called another of Solomon's seals najmat Da'ud or the Star of David, and eventually, taken over by Christian Europe, these two terms became differentiated, with seal of Solomon referring to a five-pointed pentagon and star of David to a six-pointed hexagon.

Uri Ofir suggested in his research about The Jewish Origin of the Star of David that the source for this "odd" translation is in the commentaries of Rashi and Iben Ezra. Rashi and Iben Ezra wrote that Bilam's prediction ["There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17)] is about King David. These two commentators were so influential that every Jew knew that there is a strong connection between the concept of the Star and the concept of David. No wonder that when translators dealt with these materials they unanimously decided on the same ("odd") translation.

Boxing

Boxer Dana "dangerous" Rosenblatt fought always with a blue Star of David on his white boxing shorts. Dana is a middleweight champion. He was invited frequently to speak at universities, kids' camps and religious events visiting temples all over the Boston area and beyond and talking to the kids on the importance of having been a Jewish fighter.
Another Jewish boxer who used to wear a Star of David on his trunks was Dmitriy Salita whose performing name was “The Star of David”.

Emotion

Yesterday I saw someone wearing a Christian Cross necklace and I thought that here in Jerusalem it is quite rare to identify Christians; they look the same as everybody else… I looked at him with a special interest. This is what symbols are all about. It's true that they have a certain shape, a certain meaning, and a certain history - but above all they make one FEEL that he belongs to a certain group and that he doesn't belong to other groups.

Bezalel

Dalia Manor wrote in her book Art In Zion: The Genesis of Modern National Art in Jewish Palestine (2005, Page 43) that the aspirations of the founders of Bezalel School of art were to create "the original Hebrew style" and for that purpose they used recurrent Jewish symbols such as the Menorah, the Star of David, the Tablets of the Law, the Ark of the Covenant and lions. Dalia Manor noted that the menorah was much more popular than the Star of David.
Dr Haya Friedberg, wrote an article (in Hebrew) about Bezalel School where she told that about two decades after it was founded (in 1906) an anonymous writer protested in a letter to the editor of an Israeli newspaper against the exaggerated use in "Star of Davids, Yemenites and lions" that do not testify about the presence of Hebrew art in Bezalel.
The school's name, Bezalel, is taken from the name of the artist of the Tabernacle after the Exodus, Bezalel Ben Uri Ben Chur of the tribe of Judea who didn't succeed in the making of the first Menorah so that eventually it was made by the Lord. I believe that if the founder of this school, Boris Schatz, knew the theory of Uri Ofir, that the first Star of David was made as a candle holder in this first Menorah – he would have influenced his pupils to make more Stars of David than menorahs...

Mormons

Mormons believe they belong to the Jewish lost tribe Ephraim, and that's why Judaism is so important for them. No wonder they use the Star of David:
The Salt Lake Assembly Hall is Victorian gothic building and a Star of David within a circle is placed high above each entrance. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia).
Some of the Mormons believe that the Star of David got its shape from the Urim and Thummim that the Jewish High Priest carried on his chest.
Vincent Chapman published on 28 January 2005 a flag for the Mormon Church which contains a big Star of David in the center surrounded by twelve stars that stand for the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. The former Mormon flag which was made in the 1800's by Emma Smith had a large 5 point star in the middle.
Utah Republican Mormon Senator, Orrin Hatch, is a Zionist and on his front door there's a Star of David.
Cecil McGavin in his book Mormonism and Masonry (2004) mentions that Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, "was not a Jew yet he was pleased to display above the door in his historic Mansion House in Nauvoo, Illinois, a small gilt-covered six pointed star".

Little-Known Chapter

Mildenstein medal, with a Swastika on one side and a Star of David on the other 
Photograph courtesy of Arnon Goldfinger (c) 2014

Mark Weber, Director of the Institute for Historical Review, published an article about Zionism and the Third Reich and in it told the story of SS officer Leopold von Mildenstein and Zionist Federation official Kurt Tuchler who traveled to Palestine together and stayed there for six months in order to assess Zionist development. In 1934 von Mildenstein published twelve illustrated articles in Der Angriff. Der Angriff issued a special medal, with a Swastika on one side and a Star of David on the other, to commemorate the joint SS-Zionist visit.

In the introduction to this article Weber says that this is one of the stories belonging to the little-known wide-ranging collaboration between Zionism and Nazi authorities; I reckon it is a repressed chapter, certainly from the Zionist point of view.

P.S.
 See Arnon Goldfinger's 2012 documentary, The Flat, on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z94u_5qLxXU#t=30

See Also:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flat_(2011_film)

Color and Meaning

Stars of David appear in almost any imaginable color:
The one on the center of the Israeli flag is BLUE like the stripes of the flag which represents the Jewish prayer shawl (Tallith).
The emblem of the Israeli Emergency Medical Service is a RED Magen David – Red like blood? Red like the Red Cross?
The emblem of the Israeli College of Para-veterinary studies is GREEN, like the green ecological movements, like nature in spring.
Alexander Mishory in his Hebrew book "shuru Habitu Ureu " wrote that the colors of the yellow patch were YELLOW AND BLACK because in the western Christian culture they stand for treason and heresy and it was used to describe Judas in Christian art.

Stone Workshop Ein Yael

Star of David stone at a Workshop in Ein Yael, Jerusalem.

Alchemy

Carl G Liungman wrote on his book Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms (2004, Page 256) that The Star of David serves as a general symbol of the art of alchemy and that it stands for a combination of water and fire. Sometimes it replaces the words "drink!" Or "swallow!" It is also a symbol for quintessence, the fifth element after air and earth and fire and water; which was believed to be the purest and essence of something.

On the New Alchemy Website I found a drawing from 1625 of Nature (Half naked Woman with four breasts, indicating wholeness) bearing the shinning Star of David - symbol of the lumen naturae (Light Of the Darkness, which illuminates it's own darkness, like exploring a dark cave with a candle, not with a torch).

Remo F. Roth wrote an online book titled The Archetype of the Holy Wedding in Alchemy and in the Unconscious of Modern Man where he says that the Star of David is used

In the mysticism of all five-world religions: in the Kabbalah, in Christian mysticism… in the heart chakra of Buddhist and Hindu Tantrism and in Muslim Sufism. It is always connected to the heart, the symbol of the Eros principle in the original and broadest sense of the word

Remo Roth's online book is an excellent introduction to Alchemy. I was taught there a lot of new and surprising things e.g. that the unity of the opposites, about which I heard a lot in Jewish sources, is in fact the main issue Alchemy deals with…

On the lamp - hexagram

Source: Musaeum Hermeticum  

alchemy book, Frankfurt, 1625

Source: Wikipedia Entry: Musaeum Hermeticum.

Ein Yael

Archaeologist Gershon Edelstein found a Christian Star of David in a mosaic floor in Ein Yael (En Yalu), in south Jerusalem’s Rephaim Valley, in a farm with a Roman villa from mid-third-century A.D. He wrote about it a long report from which I quote:
In the last week of the 1988 season, we uncovered the mosaic floor of the circular room of the bathhouse, a floor encircled by a triple-twisted rope pattern, familiar to us from the mosaics in the living area of the villa. However, to our surprise a double-twisted rope in the center forms a hexagram, the familiar six-pointed star, or Shield of David (in Hebrew, Magen David).
Yehudah Rapuano, who participated in the excavations, discusses in his article the possibility that this place commemorated Philip’s baptism of the eunuch, related in Acts 8.
I went to see this Star of David in the mosaic floor in Ein Yael and to take a photo of it, but it was taken for reconstruction and I don't know when they will put it back.

German Pentateuch

There's a Star of David on the c. 1300 illumination for the Duke of Sussex Pentateuch and in it there's an elephant. The book is located nowadays in the British Library in London.

On page 61 in his book Dreams of Subversion in Medieval Jewish Art and Literature (1997) Marc Michael Epstein claims that in the beginning of the 14th century for medieval German Jews the Star of David represented the Torah.

The Duke of Sussex's German Pentateuch was written and illuminated by a scribe-artist known as Hayyim, working in southern Germany around 1300

Messianic Seal

In 1990 Tech Otecus, an old monk who lived as a hermit in the Old City of Jerusalem, showed Ludwig Schneider, editor of "Israel today" magazine, a collection of artifacts he found in a cave on Mount Zion. On some of these artifacts there was engraved a Star of David between a Menorah at the top and a fish at the bottom. Otecus said that in the 1960s he had personally excavated about 40 artifacts bearing the Messianic Seal from an ancient grotto located in Mount Zion. The Israeli Museum never published these findings. Maybe they suspected they are faked.
Faked or not the Messianic Jews use this symbol as their logo, and explain that the Star of David stands for Judaism while the fish stands for Jesus.

The Essence of a Symbol

In Temple Beth El on June 2001 the Rabbi gave a sermon about the Star of David. I liked his
Introduction about the essence of a symbol:
"A symbol," according to Mircea Eliade, "speaks to the whole human being and not only to the intelligence." Symbols are powerful, often eliciting strong emotional reactions, both positive and negative”.
Like most of the general reviews on this subject the Rabbi from Temple Beth El doesn't mention Uri Ofir's theory that the origin of the Star of David is from the Tabernacle about a year after the exodus. For any future sermon - I sent him the link...

Driving Blessing

I found a very nicely designed Star of David on a Driving Blessing wrote by Rabbi Janet Marder of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos, California. The Hebrew words for "choose life" form two of the six triangles and the rest is made by the conventional lines of the emblem.
The Driving Blessing includes a presentation that Jewish parents may give to their child upon receiving his driver's license. Getting this license is a life cycle event, which signifies independence and taking responsibilities.
The same design of a Star of David is on Choose-Life Key Ring that is offered on the same website.
This is a modern and updated ritual and I guess the more people will hear about it the more they will use it.

Six and Seven

Numbers are international. We cannot be sure that Pythagoras invented the Tetraktys all by himself – he could have learned it from the Egyptians or from the Israelites. Symbols are international – we find the hexagram or the pentagram or the lily almost in every culture.
The Star of David has six triangles surrounding one hexagon. The interlocking tetraktyses have 13 points. 13 include the meanings of the numbers six and seven, twelve and one. Twelve and one is the basis for the theory about the encampment of the Tribes.

Khan el-Ahmar

There's a Christian Star of David from the 7th century AD in the mosaic floor of the Euthymius Monastery in the Judean Dessert. In order to get there you need to drive east of Jerusalem in the direction of Jericho until Mishor Adummim and near the gas station to turn right and drive for one mile into the industrial area. Khan el-Ahmar means red hostel.
Y. Hirschfeld wrote an extensive article about the Euthymius Monastery and in it I found the following description:
The easternmost unit contains a six-pointed star pattern with a red chalice at its center…The mosaic stone pavements of the northern aisle were almost completely destroyed, except for a small section at its eastern end. In this section a small portion has survived of a six-pointed star identical with the six-pointed star of the southern aisle.

Oldest Jewish Star of David

 Star of David at Mt. Karkom, Israel c. 1200 BCE

Photo by Flickr member Uri Zackhem 

(c)

 2010

Star of David at Mt. Karkom, Israel c. 1200 BCE

Photo by Flickr member Uri Zackhem 

(c)

 2010

A few days ago I sent E-mail to Yair Davidiy, the publisher of Brit-Am newsletter and yesterday I got his answer:

Question and Sources about the Shield of David Question:

Dear Yair,

I read on your website that Professor James R. Harris, mentions in his book THE NAME OF GOD p. 205 a Star of David with YAH written in Hebrew in it from the time of the Judges that was found at Gibeon.

I also read on his web page "The Shield of David represents Yah as the protector of the Twelve Tribes (represented by the twelve points of the star). In addition to the "Shield of David" inscription shown above, we have an enlarged photo of a geoglyph Shield of David on top of one of the Har Karkom platforms".

I understand that these Magen Davids are the oldest Jewish Magen Davids known today. I checked the Internet and almost nobody mentions these finding and their importance.

Why?

Do you have any more info about this?

Answer:

Shalom,

Your blog site http://star-of-david.blogspot.com/ contains some interesting information concerning the Magen David.

You quoted from our article concerning the Magen David

James Trimm is quoted in this article as referring to: "THE NAME OF GOD by James R. Harris p. 205. It dates to the time of the Judges and was found at Gibeon. It is a Mogen David with YAH written in Hebrew in it."

We have not seen this work.

Our support for the Magen David as a symbol is based more on other factors, i.e. it could be seen as a valid short-hand Ancient Hebrew ("Canaanite-Phoenician") letter of writing the name David.

It has become associated with the Jews almost against their will.

There also exists a principle that even something whose origins were pagan is acceptable if the pagans no longer attribute it pagan significance, e.g. if a tree which was once part of a pagan grove and the pagans who worshipped it no longer exist or have changed their religion the tree is no longer considered as attached to idol worship and does not have to be cut down.

You quote from a site describing the Names of God as found in ancient inscriptions. I could not find the author of this site nor discern what (if any) group may be behind it. ALL the information looks reliable though the Karkom Shield of David (near the bottom of the page) looks too explicit and a little too good to be true. Nevertheless chances are that it too is genuine.

As for not being able to find it on the web this does not say much. We sometimes find information that seems to be common knowledge and that we consider to be of great importance assumedly for all concerned to be very difficult to track down not only on the web but even in University libraries. I like academics and even fancy myself sometimes as "almost" one of them but sometimes their presentation to the public of very vital sources can be most disappointing.

Hashomer Hatzair

The emblem of Hashomer Hatzair is very similar to the Star of David found on Sufa ruins, but I'm not sure the members of this youth movement know about it.

 

Picture of the Star of David on the emblem of Hashomer Hatzair   is courtesy of Wikipedia

Christian and or Jewish White Lily

One more proof that Uri Ofir's Theory about the Jewish origin of the Star of David is not famous as it should be is that the WHITE LILY (that was used, according to his theory, as a model for the Star of David shaped candle holder in the Menorah in the Tabernacle right after the Exodus, and which is the symbol of Israel) isn't regarded by the Jewish world as sacred as it is regarded by the Christian world.
That's why Dr. Michelle Zakai of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba is working with her team on speeding up the flowering of the Lilium Candidum, naturally flowering in May, so that it could be sold to Christians before Easter, at the end of March.

Vans Shoes

Picture of Star of David pattern Vans Shoes is courtesy of “malicious maria” who published it on Flickr.
The ADL issued a statement on Monday, May 08, 2006 that they checked out the e-mails-rumor that the makers of the Vans Shoes are anti-Jewish (because the star of David pattern is “stepped upon”) and found out that the rumor was not true; The whole thing started because Vans skateboarding shoes come with a pattern resembling a Star of David on their bottom part.

Jesus' Grave in Shingo Japan

There is a Star of David on a grave in Japan in which according to Japanese local legend, Jesus had been buried.
Jesus, thus tells the legend, came to Japan when he was 21 years old, during the reign of the 11th emperor, Suinin; he studied the Japanese language and stayed for 11 years. Then he returned to Judea and was condemned to death. Jesus succeeded to escape but his brother Isukiri was nailed to the cross and died instead of him. Jesus returned to Japan, married Miyuko, had three daughters, died 106 years old and was buried in Shingo village.
Sajiro Sawaguchi, whose family owns the cemetery, claims to be a direct descendant of Jesus. Sawaguchi's family crest is taken from the Star of David. Ancient kimonos made in the area have a Star of David on them.

Pythagoras

Recently I mentioned that a Star of David can be built inside the tetraktys by connecting the 6 points that surround the central point and by leaving the 3 outer points untouched. Here we have a totally different suggestion: to merge two tetraktyses (ten points arranged in four rows: 1 point in first, 2 in the second etc.) and build from these points two triangles: one that starts from the point at the top and ends in a base made from the four points at the bottom and the other starts from the point at the bottom and ends in a base made from the four points at the top.
These two interpretations strengthen the theory that the Pythagoreans who invented the tetraktys might have influenced this Jewish symbol.

Mixed-Faith Couple

Simon Round from the JC.com brings today an interesting story about a mixed-faith couple, David and Carolin Sommer, who have been married for five years and have two small children. They live in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. In order to avoid the extinction of Judaism in his family David educates his boys to be Jews. On the other hand at Christmas David and Carolin light candles for Chanucah and give presents. They have a turkey and they have a tree with a Star of David on top of it.

Mystical Rose

Athol Bloomer wrote an extensive article titled Mystical Rose where he claims that the two triangles of the Magen David are the two mems of the name of Miriaim. It is the union of the Divine Wisdom (the mem pointing downwards-mem sofit) with the Mother of Understanding and Wisdom (Sophia) (the mem pointing upwards). The Magen David is seen as a Key to the Tower of David and to the Rose Garden.

A similar claim was made, by researcher Uri Ofir  who claims that the origin of the Star of David is from the Tabernacle, a year after the exodus, and that it was made by the Lord in the shape of the Lilium Candidum (rose).

A big Star of David from late Byzantine period was found in the ruins of Sufa and in its center appears a side projection of a lily.

In Hebrew the number six (Shesh) and the rose (Shoshan) sound very close.

The more I learn this subject the more I find that there is a close relationship between these two emblems of the Jewish people – the Star of David and the rose (Shoshanat Yaakov)…

Font

A guy named Francis wrote on February 25, 2004 an amazing story about a Microsoft critical update that took out the swastika font because it was an "unacceptable symbol" and the Star of David because it was next to the swastika and some people were offended by this neighborhood.

Six and One

The Star of David has six triangles surrounding one hexagon.  Drawing same sized circles around a main circle always ends up in six - not five, not seven. This alludes to the six days of creation in Genesis and the one day of rest; to the six working days and the one day of rest… Six years of slavery and freedom on the seventh… Six years of planting and letting the land rest on the seventh… six candlesticks surrounded the Menorah in the Tabernacle, three from each side.

In this photomontage I put the White Lilium Candidum on six Israeli coins that show the Lilium engraved on stone and it fits nicely the six and one coins that allude to the Star of David.

Names of Websites

There are 9370 websites with the words Star of David in their URL and those of you who know the technical side of the web will understand the meaning of this huge number. For me it is just another indicator that shows how powerful this emblem is. Among those websites I found many commercial sites that sell jewelry and a few interesting ones like:
Hanukkah coloring page
This site offers kids a drawing of the Star of David that can be colored online or off line .
Star of David Posters at AllPosters.com.
Books with a Star of David on the front cover like:
Bat Mitzvah Scrapbook
Bar Mitzvah Photo Album
Guest Book
A spam blog for Star of David Door Entry Knocker with hundreds of repetitions on the words Star of David Door Entry Knocker
The Star of David Kosher Soap "Made from the natural oils of lemon and eucalyptus extract and pure vegetable oil".

Supply and Demand

Looking for websites with the words Star of David in their domain name I stumbled upon one that deals with Faked Yellow Badges. The web master explains

 

I have been concerned during recent years by the number of fake badges which are flooding onto the market as more and more people try to acquire a little bit of 'Holocaust history'…

I've got to admit – I never thought such a phenomenon is possible. Did you?

Nazi Propaganda

The Star of David was used by anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda to symbolize Jews:
A drawing of a snake with Jewish Stars of David attacking a German naked woman was introduced as evidence at the Nuremberg trials to show how Nazi Germany fed the hatred to the Jews.
Josef Plank drew an octopus with a Star of David over its head grabbing the world.
Bauer published in 1936 a Children's Book titled "Don't Trust a Fox/Trust Not the Jew," One of the pictures shows an "ugly" Jew eating while on the wall over his head there's a calendar with a Star of David.
A drawing on a red background of a black rectangle with an "ugly" Jew in the center of a white Star of David.
WWII anti-American book shows Roosevelt as a puppet of the Jews under the American Stars (of David) and stripes flag.
In 1938 Nazi Propaganda Ministry requested from German film companies to make anti-Semitic films. Among those films were:
The Rothschilds: The film shows how Jewish Rothschild banking family made fortune from the blood of the Germans in the time of the wars of Napoleon. England appears as a society dominated by Jews. The final scene shows a Star of David over the map of England.

Hakoah of Vienna

Sporting club Hakoah of Vienna (1909- 1941) was the largest Jewish sporting club in the world in its time. It had more than 5,000 members that took part in a wide variety of sports activities wearing the Hakoah emblem with its Star of David.

Modern Legend

Yaakov Goldberg wrote this on 21 Sep 1992 but I found it only this morning:

The story about king of Denmark who wore the Yellow Badge during WWII is a legend. It never happened. Yaakov Goldberg quoted from an article published by Danish anthropologist Jens Lund who claimed that it was a fictionalization contrived by Leon Uris in his 1958 novel, Exodus.

This story made me disappointed: I always admired those brave righteous people who risked their lives to help Jews escape from the Nazis. Now I'll have to admire one less.   

Photoshop contest

On Photoshop contest Religious Shapes 5 I saw some Star of David pictures, which were full of inspiration, full of imagination, creative, surprising, fun, entertaining, humorous, amusing, artistic, aesthetic…
My recommendation is to run see it with your own eyes and tell your loved ones:
Aquarium in the shape of the Star of David with fish swimming in it ( BTW a year ago I planned building a similar aquarium from glass)
Pupil in an eye
Pyramid for pharaoh
The building of the Jewish center in the film "Hebrew Hammer "
Two embryos connected by their umbilical cord
Jewish egg
Made from a beautiful woman's hair
6 pointed starfish
Dominoes
Jewish menorah
Leaf
Made from butts in an ashtray
Original chocolates from Morguefile
Emergency
Car Gear
Star of David on the Wailing Wall
On chess tools
Stop sign
As one of the tools in a jackknife
As a wheel of a bike (I did the same on a wheel of a car 5 years ago)
Pink Floyd - The Kosher Side of the Moon
Aiming device for a hunting gun
Glider
Made from floating plants in the water

Using the Photo of the Star of David in Wikipedia

Just to prove how ubiquitous the Star of David is see the list of Wikipedia links to projects that use the picture of the Star of David (502). You’ll see that this picture  is used by an amazing number of projects, which surround every corner of the Jewish life.

I just hope I'll have enough patience to visit all the pages these links lead to...

Crop Circle Formation

Rani from Yaly Judaica referred me to a Star of David Crop Circle Formation
Discovered on September 16, 2001 in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada and reported by Judy Arndt.
More than the excellent photos I liked the tolerant approach of Judy Arndt's explanations:

It doesn't matter to me if we solve the puzzle of who made it. People respond to the beauty and geometry. After the horrific images we've been viewing on TV this month, walking in the serenity of this crop formation is a soothing balm.

That's exactly the way I feel towards the Star of David phenomenon - It doesn't matter to me if we solve the puzzle of who made it…walking wherever this symbol leads me is a blessing!

Stars of David in art

On the website of Frank Meisler, an Israeli sculptor who has a studio in the Old City of Jaffa I found several Stars of David.

Israeli painter Nir Hod's "I Swear" shows a female soldier in the image of the artist swear on a bible and a gun with a false Star of David unit tag on her shoulder and a pendant with a Star of David in her hand.. In "Love Story" there's an Israeli officer with a Star of David on his arm in the image of the artist who's embracing a nurse who is also in the image of the artist. In the background there's a war.

 In the 80th Moshe Gershoni made a painting titled "Mizmor Ledavid"  (a hymn to David) with a black Star of David.

In 1998 Eitan Bushery and Tamar Shalev made a painting for the 50th Israeli Independence Day where the Star of David is broken into two separate triangles on the background of a fire that is going to burn it.

Star of Judaism or Star of Israel

The Jewish Star of David means a lot of different things for a lot of different people:

God's rule

Creation

Jewish identity

As above as below

Four elements

Masculine – feminine

Astronomical configuration

Protection

Messiah

Hope

Suffering

Survival

Messianic

Twelve tribes

Opposites

Marriage

Sukkah Guests

Jerusalem (Zion , Zionism)

Water and fire in Alchemy

One of the stars in the sky

House of David

Symmetry

Personal meanings

Anyhow the main interpretations are that it stands for Israel and or Judaism. How to draw the line between these representations opens another arena.

The Bar Kochba Coin from Clay City Kentucky

Recently I wrote that serious academic scholars base much of their theories on the physical evidence found in the field. I asked how can they be sure that these findings are not FORGERIES? Today I followed a story I read on Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut's book "The Magen David: How the Six-Pointed Star Became an Emblem for the Jewish" and found an interesting answer for my question.

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut developed a whole argument around the story of Robert Cox who found in 1952 a Bar Kochba coin in a pigs' pen. Plaut said that since Bar Kochba's revolt failed there's no reason to think that the spreading of the Star of David started in his period. Anyhow Israeli coin expert Yaakov Meshorer identified the Bar Kochba coin as a forgery from the beginning of the 20th century.

One side of this coin shows the Star of David above the Second Temple and the name Simon in Old Hebrew letters. On the other side there's a lulav and an ethrog and the words "Year 2 of the Freedom of Israel".

In his survey of "Pre-Columbian Old World Coins in America" Jeremiah F. Epstein devoted almost a page to the Kentucky Bar Kochba coins. This seems to me like a waste of good energy – why include it in the book if it is forged? This only adds fuel to the debate about the possibility that Solomon's fleet arrived to America…

Similar coins were found in 1922 near the Missouri/Arkansas state line; in 1932 in Louisville, Kentucky; in 1967 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and in Alcolu, South Carolina. This last mentioned coin was also identified by Meshorer as a forgery.