Traditional Interpretations of the Six Points

I read that the six points of the Star of David symbolize the future powers of the Messiah: 

·        Wisdom

·        Understanding

·        Counsel

·        Heroism

·        Knowledge

·        Fear of the Lord (According to Yeshayahu Chapter 11:2)

 Also, according to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 93), the Messiah will be from the House of David. This is based on the Bible verse (Ruth 3:15) that tells how Boaz gave Ruth, King David's mother, six barleys

Rashi comments:

 It was really six grains of barley, for Boaz was hinting to her that a son, who would be blessed with six blessings, was destined to descend from her.

 

I read another interesting interpretation of these six points on the late Rabbi S"Z Kahana website. He wrote that he knew people who see the Shield of David as a protector of the human spirit which is in the center of the six directions:

·        Up

·        Down

·        East

·        West

·        North

·        South  

 

Others say that the six points relate to six possible ways of contact that a Hebrew man has with the land of Israel:

·        Didn't see it

·        Saw it from a distance

·        Entered and got out

·        Entered and stayed for the rest of his life

·        Born in Israel and lived there

·        Died abroad but his bones were brought to Israel

 

Mini Israel

Today we put a stand with our twirling Israeli flag in the gift shop of Mini-Israel and took a map of the park home...

 Mini Israel is a miniature models park, between Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv,  which is designed in the shape of a Star of David, marked by a red brick path, while each triangle is devoted to a different part of the country - Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, the Negev, the Galilee

Jaimal Yogis wrote that "The Park is built in the shape of the Star of David to avoid delineating Israel's shifting borders".

 

In the park there are more than 330 detailed models of important Israeli sites and 50,000 plants (17,000 of them are miniature trees). It was built at an investment of $20 million and it covers seven acres of land.

Jewish Identity

 Jodi Werner wrote  about the original private meaning she relates to the Star of David:

·      The open space at the center represents the answers I have yet to find — the cultural, personal and religious identity I am still forging.

·        The balanced and opposing triangles symbolize my struggle between personal reflection and public promotion.

 

She got a Star of David necklace from her boyfriend and started wearing it every day. This simple act brought to her knowledge various reactions she didn't expect:

 

It has also led people to make incorrect assumptions about me — that I am an Orthodox or traditionally observant Jew, that I am a staunch supporter of Israeli military actions or that I keep strictly kosher.

 

"Wearing a Star of David has also helped me to work on caring less about what other people think of me and not needing external approval as regularly. I do not wish to hide or deny my religious identity, but symbolically wearing it daily on my chest signals me loudly as "other" and potentially as a target for hatred".

 

 

Flower Cells

Dr. Rina Kamenetsky a researcher at Israel's Volcani Institute, discovered that the Nurit flower bulb cells look under a microscope as a Star of David. The Nurit is a 'resurrection plant' – it can live without water until water comes.  It has a unique mechanism for resisting drought and heat. The cell walls of the roots serve as a shield: when the first rain comes, they block the water to prevent the cells from bursting, but they protect the cells from dehydrating by absorbing some water. The most common wild type Nurit has a red flower with a black center. In summer, its roots are exposed to the heat of the desert. The cultivated Nurit has a variety of colors.

 

Memorial Monument to the Jewish Soldiers in the Shape of a Star of David

Created by Bernie Fink; Sculptor; born 1942, Johannesburg, South Africa; made aliya in l962; lives in Kibbutz Yizrael.
Today I visited with my son in Yad Vashem, Israel's national memorial to the heroes of the Holocaust. It is close (only 5 minuted drive from our home) yet distant, since it's a tragic place, full of awfulmemories. I wanted to check up the name of my missing uncle, who was three years old when he disappeared in WW2, but Yad Vashem was so crowded with visitors who came to Jerusalem for Passover that we barely found a parking place. So we went around the main museum building and saw the Memorial to the Jewish Soldiers. At the entrance to the square in front of the monument, on a stone, we read the following engraved words:

one and a half million jews fought against Nazi Germany in WW2 in the allied armies on all fronts in the ranks of the partizans in the ghettoes and in the underground movements in Occupied Europe, Hundreds of thousands of them fell in battle. This monument dedicated to these fighters was inaugurated on the 40 anniversary of the allied victory 8.5.85

Batya Brutin wrote about the meaning of the Memorial:

The six blocks of granite represent the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis, the Star of David symbolizes the Jewish People, and the sword, the fight against the Nazis. The symbol of a Star of David and a sword is usually associated with the IDF by using this combination, the artist makes a connection between the Jewish soldiers in the Allied forces, and modern-day Israeli soldiers.

Cookies

Photo courtesy of Luke from Flickr who wrote to me why did he shot it:

My friend's mother made these for our annual Chrismukkah gift exchange. I shot them because they looked delicious.

Thanks, Luke.
To me they look original - I never saw cookies in this shape.

Daffodil

Capitol Hill, Seattle. Courtesy of "disappearinjon" from Flickr who wrote to me the following: 

As to why I took it, I can't say that at the time I saw it as I did when I was editing photos --- but that, as a person of Jewish heritage, I felt a little something when I did see it.

Let me tell you, "disappearinjon", that when I saw your picture I felt the same...
Thanks.