Torah Reading Tables

Torah Reading Tables magen David picture ©2005 Steve Henry Herman / all rights reserved

I just got an Email from Steve Henry Herman who enjoyed my blog and commented:

I too have a fascination with the Star of David, and have used it in several Torah reading tables I designed and built for sanctuaries in North Carolina. I use the inherent strength of the Star (interlocking triangles) as the central structural key to the tables

.I like surprising intimate and personal interpretation of the Star of David. This one belongs definitely to this category. Steve Henry Herman's Star of David transmits strength. I can feel it just from looking at this picture…

Israel is 541

Magen David Israel is 541 picture is courtesy of Richard Amiel McGough
Richard Amiel McGough's supplies his readers with numerological interpretations of the meaning of the Star of David. The one I liked the most was that the sum of the Hebrew letters in the word Israel is 541 and it is the same as the number of dots that appear in a Star of David in which n=10.

6n(n-1) +1

6.10=60

60.9=540

540+1=541

10 =I="yud"

300 =S="shin"

200 =R="reish"

1 =A="aleph"

30 =L="lamed"

541

(E is not counted since in Hebrew the A already covers this base).

According to scientific probability what are the odds that the number of dots in the emblem of Israel will equal the sum of the numerical value of the letters in the word ISRAEL? Amazing!

Magen David Album

Today I started a New Hebrew blog on http://magendavidalbum.blogspot.com/. I hope this will satisfy all those readers who said that this blog must be also in Hebrew. Still, first stage will be with minimal text since I don't have time right now to translate all the stuff that was accumulated on this blog.

 I hope this new initiative will enlarge our club of Star of David enthusiasts and that I'll get some new photos from my new readers.

 I reckon that seeing so many surprising photos without reading long texts will be a different experience for all of us…  

 

St. Mark Cathedral

There are so many loose ends in the research about the origin of the Star of David. Take for example the stone with an engraved Star of David  found in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. legend has it that the stone was brought to Venice from the Temple in Jerusalem. I reckon there are hundreds of such riddles and solving each one of them might shed more light on this complicated issue.

  

hidden synagogue

Photo of  hidden synagogue Magen David is courtesy of Jessica Gonzalez aka "Captain Che" from Flickr 

Titus Gate

Photo courtesy of Martin Begrich ("rishon-lezion") from Flickr

Researcher Uri Ofir deduced from this Menorah that " the sculptor of the Titus Gate created a lily that had 6 petals out of which we see only 3 in side projection". Uri Ofir claims that this is one of the proofs that the Star of David started from the Menorah.

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

Another ancient symbol of harmony and peace is the Menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum supported by three legs:
In our context, this may tell us that peace, betokened by the Menorah, cannot be established upon one or two legs; all three of them, symbolizing the three main descendants of Abraham and their respective religions, are required to reach a stable peace.
We may infer this from a saying by Solomon, the King of Peace, who said in his wisdom that "a threefold cord is not easily broken."
A mere changing or redesigning of symbols will not do. The actual change requires a relearning which would indeed be the learning of the ways of the God of Jacob, as enjoined by the Prophets. Such a process of reeducation may last for several generations, till we can really "beat the swords into plough shares."
While Christians have at least begun this process through events such as the Vatican Council II and the recent declarations of several Protestant Churches, the Islamic world still needs a harbinger for this new age of grace and truth, righteousness and peace.
May it be God's Will that Mankind comes to understand this without another destructive and devastating war.

Anti Zionist Cartoons

I read an article about The Arab Media's Portrayal of Jews, which had several examples of anti Zionist cartoons (out of thousands that are published every year). It seems that there are people who need this food and pay for it.  One of the main means to instantly identify Zionism is the cartoonist's use of the Star of David. 

 Akhbar al-Khalij, January 29, 2006 (Bahrain)

Danish cheese shaped like a Star of David to show the Zionist penetration in Denmark.

Ash-Sharq, February 19, 2006 (Qatar)

The "Western media" bows in front of a menorah with a Star of David.

Al-Watan, January 6, 2006 (Qatar)

A Jew with a Star of David inscribed on his cylinder hat digs a tunnel in the shape of the Star of David under the Temple Mount mosque.

 Al-Bayan, December 22, 2005 (United Arab Emirates)

An Ultra orthodox Jew with a Star of David on his hat and on his shirt is playing Yo Yo with a ball in the shape of the world.

Al-Yawm, December 1, 2005 (Saudi Arabia)

The words born to kill designed so that the K of Kill is made by strengthening certain lines of a Star of David and the letters LL are made by the blue stripes of the Israeli flag.

 Ar-Rai, November 5, 2005 (Jordan)

A Palestinian kid is crucified on a Star of David.

Al-Watan, February 3, 2004 (Oman)

An Ultra orthodox Jew with a Star of David on his overcoat slaughters a Palestinian with the Arabic words Feast of the Immolation.

Tishrin, April 21, 2002 (Syria)

An Ultra orthodox Jew with a Star of David on his overcoat stands on a pulpit in USA while the statue of Liberty lays smashed on the floor.