The Sign Daleth

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

Daleth, ד , means door. It is any door's function to allow passage or to block it. If one wants to enter a house or move from one room to another, one has to pass through a door. This simple truth also holds when considering Man's way from the "natural, earthly Adam" to the "spiritual Adam" (see above, chapters 7 & 8).
Abram-Abraham followed the Divine call to leave Babel. He opened the door into God's Kingdom. This opening of the door meant for him and his seed after him a one-way passage, and a simultaneous closing of that door to prevent a return to Babel It is for this passing that he was called a Hebrew which means literally "one who passed, or crossed", i.e. who crossed from the world of Babel into the true world of the spirit of God. Abraham, being a physical descendant of 'Eber', by this act of passing became his spiritual son as well, worthy of that name (‘Eber = Hebrew, in English).
Abraham's role, after the split of David's kingdom and the disappearance of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, is being carried on by the tribe of Yehudah (Juda, in English transcript). This name is formed by inserting ד, daleth, the fourth sign of the Hebrew Aleph-Beth, into the tetragrammaton, the Name of the Lord. That means to say that the name of this tribe, Yehudah, already indicates its task of "opening a door" into God's kingdom, and uniting the four worlds, under His sovereignty.
However, all this traces back to Abraham. With him begins the history of Israel which is to lead into the Divine Kingdom, the latter being symbolized by the fifth sign of the Hebrew Aleph-Beth, i.e ,ה heh.
The insertion of this sign into his original name Avram and converting it to Avraham (Abraham in English transcript) points to that mission of his.

Dr. Eder's notes:

A man who does not harken to the call unto his freedom, is symbolically brought to the door, and his ear is bored, Exod. 21:5,6. Significantly enough, the rule to free slaves tops the list of commandments right after the Decalogue.

'Eber, in Gen.10:24, 11:14-16, is the English transcript for the Hebrew word 'ever, which means Hebrew, i.e. one who crossed from the world of confusion to the Divine Kingdom of Truth. The crossing of the Jordan River from the lands of Babel expresses this geographically. 'Eber is the prototype of the Hebrews, this term being confined to the line of Abraham-Isaac-Jacob and their descendants who are known as the Semites. Cf. Exod.7:10, Num.6:27, Deut.28:10.

The English spelling for the word Yehudah is Judah or Jew. Yehudah means literally "he will confess, or thank, God if even only by his very being."

The letter u in the English spelling Yehudah derives from the Hebrew sign wav, which can be rendered by o, u, or v, depending on its position in a word.

We may say that Yehudah is God's answer to Nimrod's Babel.

The "Four Worlds" of Emanation, Creation, Formation and Making, are expressed in the "Kabbalistic Tree"; see Adam and the Kabbalistic Tree, by Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, p.28.

The role of the sign ה , heh, and what it symbolizes, is indicated by its insertion into the name אברם , Abram, thus forming אברהם , Abraham , Gen.17:5). There are scholars who trace its importance back to the term בהבראם , bi'hibaram of Gen.2:4: "when they [i.e. Heavens and Earth] were created." This Hebrew term allows the interpretation "in (or with) ה , heh, created He them." Moreover, the term הבראם contains the same signs by which the name ,אברהם Abraham, is composed, suggesting that with it, or with Abraham, will the Lord make (עשה) Earth and Heavens. Some scholars find this idea emphasized in the Torah by the writing of the sign ה there at half its normal size. This small format may tell us about the small beginning, the Divine idea, which then takes shape in, or with, Abraham, expanding into Israel, and finally reaching out to Mankind. Thus ה, heh, may be seen as a symbol for the Divine Kingdom.

The Sign Gimel

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

If deprived of its upper yod, aleph not only loses its completeness, it changes into gimel, the third sign of the Hebrew Aleph-Beth
Gimel is the sign for camel (,גמל gamal in Hebrew), whose home is in the desert. The camel has the intelligence to get on well there, and to find nourishing oases. But it is not the Garden of Eden.
We may compare this "camel-like" state to the middle field of our Star without its six surrounding triangles. It would look rather meaningless and dreary, its outline being that of a cell in a honeycomb, which may symbolize the highly intelligent yet monotonous life in a beehive (or in a soulless technocracy)
If we look more closely at ,גgimel, and compare it with ,א aleph, we will note that its lower yod is smaller than that of aleph, while its wav straightens its head as if attempting to replace the missing upper yod. We can perceive this as a symbol of Nimrod's Babel. True, even ancient Babel tried to practice mutual charity ( ,גמילותgemiluth) to quite some degree, and knew about God's punishment for not practicing it; yet everything ended in confusion because of the denial of Shem, symbolized by the missing upper yod.
Just as gimel is not the last sign of the Hebrew Aleph-Beth, so is Babel neither the aim nor the end of human history. Our sages say that the sign ג, gimel, looks like a man running toward the next sign, or letter, in the Hebrew aleph beth, ד:

The Sign Beth

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.

As we said earlier, ,בbeth, means house, as for instance in the name Bethlehem, House of Bread. It can also stand for the whole Creation, the House the Creator provided for us. The Tanakh begins with this letter, and the question was raised: why does ,בbeth, and not ,אaleph, denote the beginning of Creation? A striking answer is that the Tanakh does not deal with theological arguments or speculations about God; it deals instead with God's laws and instructions for Man on this Earth as our "house".
The very design of the letter alludes to this idea; it opens in one direction only, namely the direction in which Hebrew is written, Hebrew being the language "by whose letters (signs, characters) and their combinations God created the world." This indicates that the whole Scripture is Torah, Divine Instruction given by the Creator from beyond ,ב beth, and directed at Man, who dwells in beth. ב

Kippahs

Kippah at Pinkasova Synagoga- Josefov, Prague

Picture is courtesy of Aidan McMichael who published it on Flickr. There are many kippahs with the Star of David motif but this design seems unique. I'll certainly buy them all if I'll open a Museum for Star of David objects...

Stairs and Stars

Photo of Stairs at the Jewish Museum - Harbin is courtesy of "the zen master" who published it on Flicker about a month ago.

Jewish Museum at Harbin, China

There were 25,000 Jews in Harbin from the 19th century to the early 20th century...

Recently the local municipality  reconstructed the Jewish Synagogue into a Jewish Museum.
Picture is courtesy of  "the zen master" who published it on Flicker 

Shabbat

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
It was probably in the course of this grand vision that the Apostle Paul suggested to his Gentile followers that they include the word abba in prayers of the heart: "You have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry abba, Father."
The word abba can be read from left to right and from right to left, both in its original Aramaic and in Hebrew, and it is the same with its Greek or Latin transcript. In Aramaic and Hebrew, it is composed of the otiot aleph-beth-aleph, aleph meaning one, origin or guiding principle, and beth meaning two, or house.
Beth, in this context, may well imply that Creation is the House in which the process of tangible growth takes place. We can say that everything comes from aleph (the One), passes beth (the world of polarities and multiples), and reunites with aleph.
This house has many mansions, for Jews as well as for Christians, Muslims, and other religious devotees. Since every human tenant is a descendant of the first Adam, it should be possible to recognize not only the Fatherhood of God but also the Brotherhood of Man. There should be no need for quarrel or strife, as it is said: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together also in unity."
The Hebrew word rendered by "dwell" is shevet. It is spelled with the same otiot (letters) as the word shabbathשבת ,. Shabbath is the day of rest, even the rest of God, into which we are destined to enter and where we shall dwell after our "six days of work" are complete. Our weekly Shabbath is a symbol for this final goal.
If we take the six outer triangles of our Star of David to symbolize the six days of the week, it's middle field could well correspond to the seventh or Shabbath day, as said. Embedded in the center, it marks the culmination of creation as well a s the interior of us humans in the image of the Creator. Thus, violating Shabbat flouts the laws of creation and the core of our being. True, beyond this created, time-bound world there exist infinity and eternity - the "eighth" day - but in our present world, we are subject to time and space, and have to take these into account. Thus, the Star represents a harmonious balance of forces - the divine at the center, and the material world organized around it.