Photo is courtesy of “cameradawktor” who published it on Flickr.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Dodge Emblem 1935
Hexagram on Jesus’ Minaret in Damascus
Picture of Solomon’s seal on Jesus’ Minaret in Damascus is courtesy of "D Jabi" who published it on Flickr and wrote in the caption:Legend (and some Hadeeth) has it that on Judgment Day, Jesus will descend from the Heavens on this very spot…
The Minaret is part of the Omayad Mosque which stands at the old city of Damascus, Syria. It was built by the Omayad Caliph al-Walid ibn Abdul Malek in 705 A.D.
The Joining of the Triangles
The following paragraph is from Dr. Asher Eder’s book The Star of David, which was published in 1987 in English in Jerusalem by Rubin Mass Ltd. The publication here is courtesy of Oren Mass. This version includes corrections and new materials that do not appear on the printed version
Naturally, it is first and foremost up to us in Israel to get the two triangles - as symbols of two energy fields - joined in a harmonious star. We have to solve the problems created by the exile of the Jewish people, and those created by the separation of religion and science (including socialism as a form of political science). Our future and that of the world depends on solving this problem.
Perhaps a passage from the Jewish prayer book can indicate the way.
In the Amidah prayer we read:
"…"...השב את העבודה לדביר ביתך.
Its usual translation is:"...restore the worship to thy innermost sanctuary...".
Let us check this passage word for word:
1) ,השב hashev, rendered as restore, means bring back, return, or even refresh;
2) העבודה , ha'avodah, the worship, can be understood as describing ritual service, but can also be understood in its broader sense, as for instance in Gen.2:5, and as shown in the previous chapter on Avodah and Melakhah. This means that all our endeavors, avodah and melakhah, should be directed to, and guided by, the innermost sanctuary.
In Israel's current situation, a great part of the religious population, on the one side, is inclined to see only the performance of the ritual as avodah , while the socialists on the other hand think that only melakhah (labor, handicraft, business) will do. Consequently, they call themselves Avodah (Labor), borrowing this idea from the international labor movement.
However, both these groups are on the form-side of the "Kabbalistic Tree", and therefore clash often. Yet, this passage of the Amidah prayer could well be understood as a plea for the return of these two groups to their common source, the dvir.
3) לדביר ביתך , dvir bethekha, is the innermost of the three parts of the "House of the Lord", the Temple. Rabbi Hirsch describes it as "the Abode of the Word, from which the word of God's Law expounds to us His will."
The prayer directs us not just to the Temple as a whole, but to its innermost sanctum. For at the entrance of the dvir there is the היכל , heical, the Abode of Might. It contains the seven-branched candelabrum at the right, and the table at the left, as symbols of spiritual enlightenment and material welfare, respectively, . Graphically designed, dvir, menorah and shulhan, form a triangle resembling the triangle of Crown-Wisdom-Understanding of the Kabbalistic Tree. This shows us that the return to the dvir is accomplished not only through the Binah- or form-side symbolized by the shulhan. , altar (liter.: table).
Whether the word goes out from the dvir, or whether we direct ourselves towards the dvir, the passage is always through the היכל , heical, with both shulhan and menorah symbolizing the material and spiritual aspects. Our prayer reminds us of the equal importance of these two aspects.
The importance of bringing these two aspects together could well be expressed by the six-pointed star as it relates to avodah and melakhah. Its two triangles could stand for avodah in its mere religious-ritualistic sense, and for melakhah, respectively. Their joining in dvir would form the Star, symbolizing avodah, service, in its broader meaning. Melakhah would then be recognized as an integral part of the service of God, no less than prayer and other religious practices.
This, of course, holds true not only for the Jewish people but for all nations; for the Temple is a visible likeness of the laws and order of Creation invisible to the physical eye. Seen from this perspective, the destruction of the Temple was a disaster not only for the Jewish people but for the nations, too. It is for this reason that Prophet Isaiah, visualizing the restoration of the Temple, could say: "My house shall be called the house of prayer for all peoples"; and: "...there -- in Zion -- the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore" (Ps.133:3). Indeed, once the nations recognize the eternal truth expressed by the House of the Lord, they will focus on it and be healed. It is then and there that strife will end and the triangles will join.
Naturally, it is first and foremost up to us in Israel to get the two triangles - as symbols of two energy fields - joined in a harmonious star. We have to solve the problems created by the exile of the Jewish people, and those created by the separation of religion and science (including socialism as a form of political science). Our future and that of the world depends on solving this problem.
Perhaps a passage from the Jewish prayer book can indicate the way.
In the Amidah prayer we read:
"…"...השב את העבודה לדביר ביתך.
Its usual translation is:"...restore the worship to thy innermost sanctuary...".
Let us check this passage word for word:
1) ,השב hashev, rendered as restore, means bring back, return, or even refresh;
2) העבודה , ha'avodah, the worship, can be understood as describing ritual service, but can also be understood in its broader sense, as for instance in Gen.2:5, and as shown in the previous chapter on Avodah and Melakhah. This means that all our endeavors, avodah and melakhah, should be directed to, and guided by, the innermost sanctuary.
In Israel's current situation, a great part of the religious population, on the one side, is inclined to see only the performance of the ritual as avodah , while the socialists on the other hand think that only melakhah (labor, handicraft, business) will do. Consequently, they call themselves Avodah (Labor), borrowing this idea from the international labor movement.
However, both these groups are on the form-side of the "Kabbalistic Tree", and therefore clash often. Yet, this passage of the Amidah prayer could well be understood as a plea for the return of these two groups to their common source, the dvir.
3) לדביר ביתך , dvir bethekha, is the innermost of the three parts of the "House of the Lord", the Temple. Rabbi Hirsch describes it as "the Abode of the Word, from which the word of God's Law expounds to us His will."
The prayer directs us not just to the Temple as a whole, but to its innermost sanctum. For at the entrance of the dvir there is the היכל , heical, the Abode of Might. It contains the seven-branched candelabrum at the right, and the table at the left, as symbols of spiritual enlightenment and material welfare, respectively, . Graphically designed, dvir, menorah and shulhan, form a triangle resembling the triangle of Crown-Wisdom-Understanding of the Kabbalistic Tree. This shows us that the return to the dvir is accomplished not only through the Binah- or form-side symbolized by the shulhan. , altar (liter.: table).
Whether the word goes out from the dvir, or whether we direct ourselves towards the dvir, the passage is always through the היכל , heical, with both shulhan and menorah symbolizing the material and spiritual aspects. Our prayer reminds us of the equal importance of these two aspects.
The importance of bringing these two aspects together could well be expressed by the six-pointed star as it relates to avodah and melakhah. Its two triangles could stand for avodah in its mere religious-ritualistic sense, and for melakhah, respectively. Their joining in dvir would form the Star, symbolizing avodah, service, in its broader meaning. Melakhah would then be recognized as an integral part of the service of God, no less than prayer and other religious practices.
This, of course, holds true not only for the Jewish people but for all nations; for the Temple is a visible likeness of the laws and order of Creation invisible to the physical eye. Seen from this perspective, the destruction of the Temple was a disaster not only for the Jewish people but for the nations, too. It is for this reason that Prophet Isaiah, visualizing the restoration of the Temple, could say: "My house shall be called the house of prayer for all peoples"; and: "...there -- in Zion -- the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore" (Ps.133:3). Indeed, once the nations recognize the eternal truth expressed by the House of the Lord, they will focus on it and be healed. It is then and there that strife will end and the triangles will join.