Wednesday, November 22, 2006

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

Cairo Genizah Magen DavidPhoto_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.