Nursing Agency

An interesting design of a Star of David as the logo of a Nursing Agency in Bnei Brit st. in Jerusalem. It is comprised of two Hebrew letters: Mem and Kof, which are the initials of the words Misgav (shekter) Kashish (elderly). These two words appear at the right side of the sign in big letters while the small letters under them talk about support at home and rehabilitation in the community.

Religion And The Sciences

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

Turning Towards The Six-Pointed Star: Religion And The Sciences

The designation of the five-pointed star as the Star of Solomon, or Solomon's Seal, should not be understood to imply that Solomon's wisdom is synonymous with the wisdom of the Chaldeans (Babylonians), just as one cannot put the Codex Hammurabi on a par with the Law of Moses.
The wisdom of the Chaldeans dealt with the laws of nature, which were considered the ruler of Mankind, while the wisdom of Solomon looked for the Truth that underlies the phenomena of nature, and thus opened itself to the Creator and His laws. The books attributed to Solomon in the Masoretic text: Song of Songs, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, give ample evidence of this.
The fact that Solomon's spiritual wisdom also encompassed the material realm may well be the reason why these two kinds of wisdom - Solomon's and the Chaldeans' - found graphic expression in the same sign, the pentagram.
Spirit and matter (or religion and science, to characterize these entities in modern terms) need not confront each other like two hostile camps. Confrontation arises when religion tries to present its dogmas and rites as unchanging answers to the ever-changing questions of life; or when science, on the grounds of mere observation and research, pretends to have mastered everything, and claims unlimited freedom for its own sake (similar to the artists' "l'art pour l'art"). It tries to shake off tradition and dogma as petrified fetters, and sees itself as the new light of the world. It becomes a juggernaut which in the end men must serve, and in unenlightened hands threatens to smash everything.
How true Einstein's words are: "Religion without science limps, and science without religion stinks."
After Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and Israel's founding (all happening within a five-year period!), religion and science can no longer remain sublimely isolated from each other.
Until the destruction of the Second Temple, the people of Israel were confronted by pagan religions.
After the fall of the Temple, Christianity and Islam penetrated the world, like a "leaven ... hid in three measures of flour", and Israel was reduced in stature. During this period, these three religions focused, for different reasons, on their respective rituals, and thus achieved a certain security for their followers. This was necessary for their early growth, but now they must mature.
Science, and "Enlightenment" in its wake, break these rigid frames of reference, first that of Christianity, then that of Judaism, and now that of Islam, notwithstanding orthodox resistance. But science alone cannot give Mankind the inner guiding light which is indispensable for our spiritual and moral conduct.
Science, including the humanities, is based upon research and study which provide us with knowledge of the phenomenal world. By their very nature, research and study are amoral and disobliging, although they may - besides finding and describing laws of nature - to some degree be instrumental in analyzing and describing the processes and effects of prayer, compassion, love and obedience to a Higher Power. At the utmost, science may recommend such acts, but it cannot generate them. This is the task of religion.
True religion is educative, guiding mankind towards an archetypal destiny which includes a proper relationship to our Maker and to the rest of Creation. It blends information gained by the sciences with the teachings of the Prophets and Sages, and may be symbolized by our star.
Henceforth, religion will be the way of initiating Humankind into a Higher Self, enabling humanity to gain understanding of the Whole and of itself as an integral part of it, and to shoulder a corresponding responsibility. The rituals of the future, besides their intrinsic value, will further this end. Faith will no longer be understood as blind belief in incredible things, but rather as faithfulness to God's Word, given to us by his prophets for our guidance. Belief will be understood in the "be-living".
Of course, initiating someone into his Higher Self does not mean making him religious. What it does is guide him in developing values inherent in everyone since Adam.
Let us liken this to the work of a gardener in an orchard. His work is not to reduce the garden to one variety of tree, or to grow only a few towering trees. It is rather to tend all the plants so that each brings forth its peculiar beauty, fragrance and fruit, and to check the weeds (read "correct our errors").
G.W. Allport, in A Study of Values, describes six major value types which he says are found to varying degrees in all of us. They are theoretical, economic, aesthetic, social, political and religious. If we put them on our six-pointed Star, each type could be represented by one of the six outer triangles, but this would be unsatisfactory, the more so as Allport equates the religious value type with ascetics, monks and mystics. It was probably the prevailing situation, which tends to exclude religion from the rest of Man's activities, which led him to this conclusion.
Why should religion be confined to ascetics, monks and mystics? Why should it constitute merely one of six value types? Doesn't it encompass more of what makes us truly human than any of the five other value types? Religion suffuses all equally. We may express this symbolically as follows:

Just as Einstein developed his unifying theories to help explain the physical universe, religions will come to a "unified world view" with the One Lord as its core, and Man as His counterpart growing up toward His likeness.
Israel today suffers from the same separation of religion and science that afflicts the rest of the world. However, Israel is not meant to duplicate what is going on in the rest of the world, but rather to heal the world by working out its problems in accordance with the Divine Torah bestowed upon it.
Coming back to our notion of Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and the Rebirth of Israel occurring within a span of five years, we will more and more become aware that they mark the most ground breaking and shattering events in human history since the Flood. Symbolically, and to a great deal physically, the old world and its values turned to ashes. Religions, if they want to be taken seriously, can after Auschwitz not continue their old ways as if nothing had happened. Hiroshima (and Nagasaki) marked on the one hand the climax of materialistic science unrestrained by the ethical values of true religion; but on the other hand, the atomic explosion as such may also well mark the shattering of our old fashioned inner barriers and the break through into the higher realms of our souls. Israel's rebirth - like the famous phoenix from the ashes - stands in this turmoiled world out like a token, even testimony, of the truth and validity of the Divine prophecies and teachings which can guide us to our true Self, and thus to true peace and wellbeing of all.

Symbol For Natural Man

Picture of pentagram coin is courtesy of “gierszewski” 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
This version includes corrections and new materials that do not appear on the printed version.

More recently, the five-pointed star has been widely used as a symbol for Natural Man, its five branches suggesting two legs, two arms and a head. As such, it was known as the Drudenfuss (Druidical sign), or Celtic Star, in Europe. In its upside-down position, with one point at the bottom, it is seen as a magic sign of evil.

Many nations took to the pentagram, showing it in their flags. These include Egypt, China, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Yemen. It was also represented in the flag of the former Soviet Union, as the so-called Red Star. In the flag of the United States, each member-state is represented by a pentagram. Recently, the European Parliament chose a circle of 12 pentagrams as its symbol.
Intriguingly enough, these countries are also world leaders in astro-sciences and astro-techniques, as was ancient Babylon, empire of the Chaldeans.

Sun Inside a Star of David

Sun inside a Star of David on the logo of Bikur-Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem. The Hebrew letters on top are taken from Malachi 3:20

[But to you that fear my name, shall] the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;

On the botton is the name of the hospital.

Star of David inside a triangle

Picture is courtesy of "Meshuge Corrida" who published it on Flickr. The Star of David is made from triangles, but this is the first design I see it INSIDE a triangle. 
The caption under the photo in Flickr reads:
A kippah from the Jewish Community "Khesed Menorah" in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Cairo Genizah

Photo_T_S_K5.13 reproduced by permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library

It shows an illustartion of a child's alphabet and it comes from Cairo Genizah, Egypt; 11th century(?); 

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

showing the six-pointed star together with other typical Jewish symbols is a school writing exercise from the 10th Century B.C.E. found in the Genizah of Cairo. It shows, besides an exercise in the Hebrew alphabet, a Menorah (seven-branched candelabrum) with two six-pointed stars next to its shaft
It is unlikely that the pupil who made this drawing was guided by his own inspiration when he linked the stars to the Menorah. We may conclude that he gave expression to an attitude prevalent in his community, which saw the star on a par with the Menorah. Yet, even from such an attitude, we cannot conclude that the star was then a specific Jewish emblem, for it was also widely used by Muslims.

The Pentagram In History And Today

Picture is courtesy of Dr. Asher Eder who shot it about 40 years ago in Capernaum, where he used to guide tourists.

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

In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, the five-pointed star, or pentagram, was also called the Shield of David, or Star of David, while the hexagram was sometimes called "Solomon's Seal".We shall deal briefly with the pentagram symbol.
As far as we know, 6th-Century Byzantine scholars were the first to speak of the pentagram as the Shield of David, while in the Middle Ages this idea was occasionally taken up by Jews and Muslims as well.
Judging from archaeological evidence, artists were drawing pentagrams long before they started drawing hexagrams. One of the oldest known artifacts is a clay jug with a pentagram painted on it, found in Jamdad Nasr (modern-day Iraq) and dated to the 4th millenium B.C.E.
Similar designs were found in Megido, one on a seal dating from the 19th Century B.C.E., the other on a clay jug, dated 17th Century B.C.E.
One of the many other findings worth mentioning is the impression of a pentagram on a jar handle - probably an official seal (possibly royal) in the Kingdom of Judah. In its angles appear the word "Jerusalem", written in ancient Hebrew characters. Fine examples can also be found on Celtic brooches:
Another outstanding example is a pentagram carved in stone, with disks in its five angles. It can be seen in the ruins of Kfar Nahum, in the following design
Although no other known design of this type exists, the five disks in the angles of the star may well symbolize the five planets known in ancient times, pointing to the astronomical connotations of the design.
In ancient times, the pentagram was indeed the sign of those initiated into the wisdom of astronomy and astrology. Priests imbued with this knowledge calculated the calendar with its agricultural and religious seasons. It is for this reason that the ancient Babylonians were known as Chaldeans - still a byword for astrologers, for their religion was based upon such calculations.
All in all, the pentagram can be seen as a symbol for nature, i.e. the material aspect of Creation. This would be supported by the fact that the entire pentagram can be drawn without lifting pen off paper, while the interwoven hexagram depicts polarities in their balance requires that its two triangles be drawn separately. (To be sure, one could draw the hexagon first and then add the six outer triangles without lifting the pen, but that would not do justice to the meaning of the symbol). – Interestingly enough, the ancient Pythagoreans gave the name “health” to the pentagram. It was probably before this background that later on it went into magic.
True, the Jewish people in their worship of the Creator of Heaven and Earth also had to develop a calendar based on the "lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and to be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years..."(Gen.1:14), so it should not be surprising to find the figure of the pentagram with the five disks in a synagogue next to the six-pointed star (see fig.6-8); nor should it be surprising that the five-pointed star is often called Solomon's Seal4. The Tanakh says Solomon was renowned for his wisdom5 in both heavenly and earthly matters, and this could explain why the five-pointed star as a symbol of wisdom was attributed to him, and named after him. However, we should keep in mind that the termמגן , magen, shield, is used in connection with Abraham and with David, while the term חותם , hotam, seal, is used in connection with Solomon irrespective whether the pentagram or the hexagram is related to him.

Solomon, Seal of

Joseph Jacobs and M. Seligsohn wrote in the Jewish Encyclopedia the entry Solomon, Seal of.

I bring it here - I only added the headings…

A. Source: The Jewish legend

The legend that Solomon possessed a seal ring on which the name of God was engraved and by means of which he controlled the demons is related at length in Gittin 68a, b.

B. Arabic development of the Jewish legend

This legend is especially developed by Arabic writers, who declare that the ring, on which was engraved "the Most Great Name of God," and which was given to Solomon from heaven, was partly brass and partly iron. With the brass part of the ring Solomon signed his written commands to the good genii, and with the iron part he signed his commands to the evil genii, or devils. The Arabic writers declare also that Solomon received four jewels from four different angels, and that he set them in one ring, so that he could control the four elements.

C. Another legend

The legend that Asmodeus once obtained possession of the ring and threw it into the sea, and that Solomon was thus deprived of his power until he discovered the ring inside a fish (Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 86-87), also has an Arabic source (comp. D'Herbelot, "Bibliothèque Orientale," s.v. "Soliman ben Daoud"; Fabricius, "Codex Pseudepigraphicus," i. 1054; and see Solomon in Arabic Literature).

D. Josephus

The legend of a magic ring by means of which the possessor could exorcise demons was current in the first century, as is shown by Josephus' statement ("Ant." viii. 2, § 5) that one Eleazar exorcised demons in the presence of Vespasian by means of a ring, using incantations composed by Solomon Fabricius (l.c.) thinks that the legend of the ring of Solomon thrown into the sea and found afterward inside a fish is derived from the story of the ring of Polycrates, a story which is related by Herodotus (iii. 41 et seq.), Strabo (xiv. 638), and others, and which was the basis of Schiller's poem "Der Ring des Polykrates."

E. Six-pointed star

The Arabs afterward gave the name of "Solomon's seal" to the six-pointed star-like figure (see Magen, Dawid) engraved on the bottom of their drinking-cups.

F. Table of Solomon

It is related in the "Arabian Nights" (ch. xx.) that Sindbad, in his seventh voyage, presented Harun al-Rashid cup on which the "table of Solomon" was represented; and Lane thinks that this was the figure of "Solomon's seal" (note 93 to ch. xx. of his translation of the "Arabian Nights").

G. Pentacle

In Western legends, however, it is the pentacle, or "druid's foot," that represents the seal. This figure, called by Bishop Kennet the "pentangle" of Solomon, was supposed to have the power of driving away demons. Mephistopheles says to Faust that he is prevented from entering the house by the druid's foot ("Drudenfuss"), or pentagram, which guards the threshold ("Faust," in Otto Devrient's edition, part i., scene 6). The work entitled "Claviculæ Salomonis" contains treatises on all kinds of pentacles. The tradition of Solomon's seal was the basis of Büschenthal's tragedy "Der Siegelring Salomonis," specimens of which are given in "Bikkure ha-'Ittim," v. 3 et seq. (German part). A work regarding a magic signet-ring is ascribed to Solomon (see Solomon, Apocryphal Works of). See also Asmodeus; Solomon in Rabbinical Literature.

P.s.

The name of the pentagram

The quotes from Aristophanes (446 B.C. – c. 386 B.C.) and fron Lucian (2nd century)

(See: Roger Herz-Fischleri in his book A Mathematical History of Division in Extreme and Mean Ratio, p. 65) prove that the word pentagram and the shape of the "triple intersecting triangle" were known by the greeks at least from the 5th century B.C. But there's no proof that they knew the word hexagram at that time. The Jewish name of the hexagram, David's Shield was known only from the 14th century and even then it was confused with the name Solomon's Seal.