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”.