Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The Star of Jacob

Uri Ofir wrote an aricle about the Jewish Origin of the Star of David that I translated and published here on my blog. Recently he sent me an article by Ayelet-Hashachar Hareuveni that had been published in the Hebrew newspaper "Hayom" on 1.7.66. Uri attached to this article the next explanation:
Attached is an article from 66 I got from Shlomo Titlebaum, general manager of Neot Kedumim, a few years after I published my research. It looks as if my findings match the findings of Mrs. Hareuveni as far as we talk about Lilium Candidum as the origin of the Star of David. Of course Mrs. Hareuveni didn’t touch the point that the Lilium Candidum design was a part of the Menorah in the Tabernacle. This point is important in any discussion about the Jewish Origin of the Star of David.
Ayelet-Hashachar Hareuveni opens her article by discussing the verse from Numbers 24: 17 where Balaam says that “A star will come out of Jacob”. In Hebrew the literal wording is: a star was stepped upon from Jacob. Ayelet-Hashachar Hareuveni claims that the star in this verse is the Star of David which was a metallic shield composed of six triangles. The soldier stepped upon the part that was between two triangles and thus the shield had been stuck into the ground
by the two pointed edges that stood on the ground. After stepping upon the shield the soldier immediately lay behind it, and it served him as a mini- post that protected him from the enemy arrows, while, at the same time, he could look through the shield and aim his bow. Moreover he could roll the shield on the ground to the left or to the right and change his position not only forwards but also to the sides… only this explanation makes it possible for us to understand the rest of the verse because using this wonderful weapon enabled the Israelites to crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.

Ayelet-Hashachar Hareuveni goes on to claim that the Shield of David was built like the Lilium Candidum
Which is the valley’s daffodil, or the rose of the valley mentioned in the Song of Songs, the diameter of which can be as long as eight centimeters. This lily was the model and the architectural source to the ancient building of the Star of David.
In the middle of the article appears a drawing of this Star of David and a caption that reads:
The Star of Jacob - the Star of David
The side that turns to the enemy.

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