Judenpost

Photo is courtesy of David Diamant and if you have more information about this banknote please drop him a note at 313diamant@gmail.com

These stamps were of 10 marks, 5 marks and 20 marks stamps. Each stamp had a Star of David under its upper left corner and on its right side there was the image of Mordechai Chaim  Rumkowski,  the head of the Jewish Council in Lodz Ghetto who was appointed by the Nazis.

Rumkowski established post offices and ran a contest for stamps to be used for interior correspondence. The first Ghetto stamps were ready on March 9, 1944. Soon after the stamps were printed the Germans decided these stamps wouldn't be permitted, and only a small amount was sold by the Ghetto post office. It is unclear to this day what happened to these stamps.

 5Pf  Rumkowski stamp

10Pf  Rumkowski stamp-1

 10Pf  Rumkowski stamp-2

 5Pf  Rumkowski stamp

More than 200,000 Jews of the Lodz Ghetto were murdered. When Lodz was finally liberated on January 19, 1945 only 877 Jews were still alive, some of them still wearing the Star of David on their chests.

The Flower of David

Photo is courtesy of Dr. Rina Kamenetsky

Head, Department of Ornamental Horticulture

ARO, the Volcani Center,

Bet Dagan,

ISRAEL

Dr. Kamenetsky discovered that the Nurit flower bulb cells look under a microscope as a Star of David. I wrote to her that I believe this story is like a good poem about the blossoming of the desert and she answered that after the first publication of this information she received many letters, some of them related to the Zionist significance of this research. For example:

one of the American writers, Sylvia Kohn Dreyfus, used the motif of the native Israeli buttercup (she called it the Flower of David) for the cover of her book of poetry "An American Jewish Perspective", published in 2005. I received this book from the author, but I am not sure that you can find it in Israel

.

Dr. Kamenetsky concludes her letter by saying that for her

however, the focus is mainly scientific, and I hope to continue my research on this most interesting plant, which can survive under severe climatic conditions of complete drought

Capernaum Synagogue

It is well known that the earliest Jewish use of the Star of David was as the seal of Joshua Ben Asayahu found in Sidon (Second Temple period, 6th century B.C.E.) and then as a carved decoration in a synagogue frieze on fourth-century synagogue at Capernaum (Kfar Nachum) in Israel.

Photo courtesy of Dan Mahler from Hofesh Organization

Re Dating and Updating the Capernaum Synagogue
There's an archeological debate about the dating of Capernaum synagogue:
Paul Roche represents the old theory about this dating problem and writes in his book, The Bible's Greatest Stories (2001 Page 380)
Capernaum was a prosperous city became the center of Jesus' Galilean ministry, perhaps because Peter had a house there. The Franciscans, who have been constantly excavating the ruins of Capernaum since the 1920s have identified Peter's house…Recent archeological finds have also unearthed the ruins of a first-century synagogue which is almost certainly the one in which Jesus preached.
James D G Dunn represents the more updated theory in his book, Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making (2003 Page 318) and writes that it dates from 4th or 5th century CE although underneath it there are earlier walls of houses and stone pavements
The reason for this re-dating is that archeologists Corbo and Loffreda excavated underneath the synagogue and discovered coins from the 5th century.
This re dating is very significant since there are numerous reviews about the history of this symbol that start with saying that this artifact is the earliest Star of David that was found in a synagogue. Even if there are ruins underneath the synagogue the artifacts are belonging to the later date. Now it is not only about re dating – it is also about updating.

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.