Kabbalists' Star of David

Picture is courtesy of "stevemonty" from Flickr

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

In the Middle Ages, the star also played quite some role in the Kabbalists' understanding and description of the world , while the very term,Magen David, rendered "Shield of David" or "Star of David") for describing the hexagram was used in Jewish literature for the first time, as far as we know, by the Kabbalist Joseph Gikatilla in the 13th Century, and then shortly after that by a grandson of the famous Rabbi Nahmanides, in his treatise Sefer ha'Gevul. There, he uses the hexagram twice, both times calling it Magen David .
It is not known whether these renowned rabbis were the first to identify the hexagram as Magen David, or whether they expressed an already existing custom. There are hints that David Elroi, the leader of a big messianic movement at the 12th century, adopted the Magen David as the sign for his campaign by which he tried to liberate the country from the Crusaders. Shortly after, the Karaite Yehudah Hadassi, who lived in Constantinople, used the term Magen David to describe the hexagram, but thought its six corners represented the four directions of the compass, the earth and heaven.
The examples cited so far may indicate a certain affinity between the Jewish people and the six-pointed star, but since other communities also used it, as we will see in the next chapter, we can only say that it was used in ancient times by both Jews and non-Jews. Yet, apparently the Magen David begins its consistent history in Judaism with these medieval Kabbalists.

Shem Ham and Yafet

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

The number three plays an important role in almost every nation and culture, and in various disciplines, appearing as a symbolic, sacred or mystical number. It can depict the father-mother-child relationship in any real or allegorical context. In Hindu philosophy, the prime power Brahm adopts three aspects: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (Creator, Sustainer and Purifier). The Chinese I Ching refers to hexagrams, each one composed of two trigrams.
Our own creative processes can be depicted by an equilateral triangle. The three decisive properties involved could then be discerned as
a) the will to create;
b) the energies or forces which supply the means to create;
c) the giving of direction, order, and form to these forces so they do not remain in a state of chaos.
The number three has significance also in the Tanakh, where its appearance is usually linked to new developments. Among the obvious examples are the three types of light spoken of in Genesis, i.e. the Divine Light (אור , verse 3) and the two great lights מארת, (me'orot; verses 14-17) which are to rule day and night, respectively. Noah's Ark has three levels, and Noah's three sons Shem, Ham and Japhet are not only the physical ancestors of the nations after the Flood but, as their names imply, archetypal representatives of spirit, feeling and intellect - the three aspects of human nature.10 Abraham's three main descendants, Ishmael, Israel, and Esau gave to the Hamites, the Semites and the Japhetites their respective religio-cultural bearings, corresponding to the three lights (notwithstanding occasional mutual intrusions like Moslem Persia or Christian countries in Africa).

Symbol of the Six days of Creation

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 chapter deals with the meaning of the triangles that constitute the Star of David. Photo is courtesy of "bibbjian" who published it on Flickr
I edited the photo in order to emphasize the Star of David which hides in the original, where six Roman emperors representing the days of the week surround Saturn who represents Saturday

Nature abounds with triads, as in sun, planets and moon; or in atoms, as protons, neutrons and electrons, or their three properties (mass, charge and spin) or states (solid, liquid and gas). The four elements - earth, air, fire and water - also ought to be mentioned here, insofar as fire is not in fact an element like the three others, but a process of energy exchange.
Within this context, it is worth noting that the Earth itself is endowed with the power to evolve, as we learn from its history, and as expressed in the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible. There, the first two days of Genesis only the Creator is acting while everything created so far remained in its original primitive state, notwithstanding the built in possibilities of development. This state changed -certainly not accidental- at the third day when the Creator commissioned the earth to bring forth vegetation and fruit trees. Regarding the kingdom of plants, we read: "And God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation...and the fruit tree..."; and with regard to the maritime kingdom: "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life"; and referring to the animal kingdom: "Let the earth bring forth the living creatures after its kind...". This marks the beginning of a however limited independence of created things. In man who was created on the sixth day (2 x 3!), this independence climaxed in the free will he can exercise to some degree.
When seeing the first three days of creation as symbolized by one triangle, and the second three days (days 4,5,6) by another triangle, their unity can be demonstrated by their harmonious joining in a hexagram. We recognize right away that its center, the hexagon as a consequential outcome of that creation symbolizes well the 7th day, the Shabbat. Indeed, Shabbat was not created: it is embedded in creation, marking its completion. We humans as being created on the 6th day are given into the laws of created nature. We are not “given into” the Shabbat, the 7th day; rather Shabbat is given to us: it is part of our human freedom to observe it, and “make it” (Exod. 31:16) into a part of our Divine freedom
This commission to evolve and develop is summed up in the words: "...[God] rested from all his work which "G o d c r e a t e d [i n o r d e r] t o d o ".
For the sake of clarity, let us reflect briefly on this well-known yet hardly understood phrase. It expresses so-to-speak two sides of one and the same coin. After the six days, or periodes, of creative work, God -speaking in human terms- rested from that work, looked at it, and found it "very good": the chaotic forces were given direction for a harmonious interplay; sun and moon were set for days, years, and seasons; the earth was commissioned to bring forth plants and living creatures; and man was created in his Maker's image. All this was created i n o r d e r t o d o , i.e. it was now upon man to subdue the earth and have dominion over it i n t h e i m a g e of the Creator, and live up to His likeness in accordance with the original plan, or blueprint, as outlined in Gen. 1:26 which says:
"Let us make Adam [=man] in our image as our likeness".
In this man-making process which goes on under the dictum "which he created to d o, God rested after all his work so that Man will complete it by his deeds. Right away after the above statement that God rested from all his work which he created so far, we read that He "breathed the breath of life" - the neshamah - into Adam's nostril s, providing thus the spiritual equipment for his task to "cultivate the Garden". Then He "planted a garden eastward in Eden"; formed Eve from his rib; rebuked Cain; saved Noah from the Flood; called forth Abram/Abraham; punished Egypt and took Israel out from there; gave the Decalogue; and on Moses’ request to “create” something new, did the earth open its mouth and swallowed Korah and his followers); etc.
All this occurred upon the earth which is, according to the Tanakh, as one of God's creations a dynamic power field subject to the eternal laws of the Creator.

Capernaum Convoluted Star of David

This picture was taken by Dr. Asher Eder about 40 years ago. He found out that it resembles another Star of David he saw in the ruins of an Herodian building in Beth-El, north of Ramallah. I heard from my teacher, Dr. Ze'ev Goldmann, who is an expert on religious symbols, that this is not a Star of David. It is an ancient Jewish symbol called tri-loop.

See an extensive article about

the Stars of David in Capernaum

http://zeevgoldmann.blogspot.com/2008/08/vi-capernaum-synagogue.html

Beith El - Defaced Star of David

This photo was taken by Dr. Asher Eder about 40 years ago in the ruins of an Herodian building in Beth-El, north of Ramallah. There, it had a curvilinear shape. When Dr. Eder wanted, a few years latter, to take a better photo he found out that the Star of David was defaced. Any how I heard from my teacher, Dr. Ze'ev Goldmann, who is an expert on religious symbols, that this is not a Star of David. It is an ancient Jewish symbol called tri-loop.

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

From the First Century B.C.E. on, we find [the hexagram] in the Land of Israel on many archeological sites.

Dating back to the second or third decade B.C.E., it could have be seen engraved on the ruins of an Herodian building in Beth-El, north of Ramallah. There, it had a curvilinear shape, similar to that of another star found in the ruins of a second-century C.E. synagogue in Kfar Nahum (Capernaum): The Beth-El hexagram was recently defaced.

In the ruins of Kfar Nahum, we can still see another example of the star, one designed with straight lines, composed of two equilateral, symmetrically interwoven triangles.

The Circle and the Star of David

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 is not an arbitrary exercise. It is indeed geometry which gives us a clue to this understanding. When we draw a circle and apply its radius to its circumference, we will find out that it fits exactly six times into it. Connecting the six centers of theirs, we get either a hexagon, or a hexagram.

As known, it is impossible to exactly square the circle (notwithstanding the value of pi = 3,14 which suffices in our daily needs to bring us near to this equation). In contrast, the above figures show the only possible direct relation between a circular and a cornered area. That means to say that the triangle as the most basic geometric unit with distinct corners can evolve directly from the circle which may represent infinity and harmony.

Creator -Creation

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.
Let us consider the six-pointed star as consisting of two equilateral triangles. The triangle is the simplest conceivable plane figure with distinct points. While in mysticism the number four and the square represent the created world, the number three and the triangle represent the various possibilities resulting from the division of the One into two. The One Creator brought about these possibilities by the very act of Creation.
If, for the sake of argument, we depict the Creator and the Creation each by a dot, then the line connecting these dots denotes the relationship between them, the relationship between "above" and "below":

Indeed, the creative power is purposefully directed, and manifests itself in forms. As life needs form in order to express itself, so does the primordial creative power (,אל el) act, and appear, as Creator (elohim) in Creation. Creation is not an act which was performed only once in the distant past, but is rather a continuous and perpetual process - "God renews the work of Creation every day", say our sages. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for Creation, briah, conveys this idea. Its end character (heh), as in any other words written with it, indicates an inclination or movement towards something. And modern scientists admit:"... the stability of matter is a pure miracle when considered from the standpoint of classical physics." It is this constant renewal which sustains life and causes the appearance of new forms, adding a horizontal, "expanding" aspect to Creation. When we become aware that a continuous act of Creation brings into being new entities which continually evolve, we can visualize the number three emerging from the line connecting dots One and Two.
Since these continual changes occur only within the framework of laws established for the world, we, being subject to these laws, cannot draw the third dot as an extension of the line connecting dot One to dot Two. Rather, by setting it beside these dots, we form a triangle in which each point represents an aspect as it relates to two other aspects of a certain force. We draw the triangle with both sides of equal length in order to express the harmony between these different aspects...
In our context, the triangle may be seen as the symbol of a power field, while two triangles, as in a hexagram, represent two related power fields. The two primordial power fields would, then, be the creative force of the creator symbolized by one of the two triangles, while the creation and the forces invested in it would be marked by the second triangle. The interlacing of the triangles, then, indicates that Creator and creation cannot be separated; one can't be without the other. They are a unit: One.