Star of David -Jewish amulet - protection against evil eye - - 14 karatgold - Mid 20th century

A magnificent Jewish amulet - protection against evil eye Star of David - Magen david - מגן דוד Unique Art Deco shape and design signed ( see last phots) Solid gold - 14k - signed with Russian gold marks Hand crafted by an Russian silversmith Very good condition The Star of David, known in Hebrew as Magen David (מָגֵן דָּוִד , transl. "Shield of David") ,[a] is a generally-recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism. [1] Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles. Star of David The identification of the terms "Star of David" and "Shield of David" with the hexagram shape dates back to the 17th century. The term "Shield of David" is also used in the Siddur, a Jewish prayerbook, as a title for the God of Israel. Most notably, the star is used as a central symbol on the national flag of the State of Israel. From non-Jewish to Jewish usage Unlike the menorah, the Lion of Judah, the shofar and the lulav, the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol. [2] The hexagram, being an inherently simple geometric construction, has been used in various motifs throughout human history, which were not exclusively religious. The symbol was also used in Christian churches as a decorative motif many centuries before its first known use in a Jewish synagogue. [3] The earliest Jewish usage of the symbol was inherited from medieval Arabic literature, where it was known as the Seal of Solomon among Muslims, when Kabbalists adopted it for use in talismanic protective amulets (segulot) . [4] [5] The name "Shield of David" (and later "Star of David") may have originated in either Islamic or Jewish mystical works. [6] Before the 19th century, official use in Jewish communities was generally known only in the region of today's Czech Republic, Austria and possibly parts of Southern Germany, having begun in medieval Prague, as one of many heraldic symbols. [6] [7] During the 19th century the symbol began to proliferate among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, ultimately being used among the Jewish communities in the Pale of Settlement. A significant motivating factor, according to scholar Gershom Scholem, was the desire to represent Jewish religion or identity in the same manner the Christian cross identified that religion's believers. [8] The symbol became representative of the worldwide Zionist community after it was chosen as the central symbol on a flag at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, due to its usage in some Jewish communities and its lack of specifically religious connotations. [9] [10] It was not considered an exclusively Jewish symbol until after it began to be used on the gravestones of fallen Jewish soldiers in World War I. [11] History of Jewish usage Early use as an ornament The Star of David in the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008. The hexagram does appear occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity, apparently as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a stone bearing a hexagram from the arch of the 3rd–4th century Khirbet Shura synagogue in the Galilee. [12] [13] Originally, the hexagram may have been employed as an architectural ornament on synagogues, as it is, for example, on the cathedrals of Brandenburg and Stendal, and on the Marktkirche at Hanover. A hexagram in this form is found on the ancient synagogue at Capernaum. In the synagogues, perhaps, it was associated with the mezuzah. [12] The use of the hexagram in a Jewish context as a possibly meaningful symbol may occur as early as the 11th century, in the decoration of the carpet page of the famous Tanakh manuscript, the Leningrad Codex dated 1008. Similarly, the symbol illuminates a medieval Tanakh manuscript dated 1307 belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain. [12] Kabbalistic use Page of segulot in a medieval Kabbalistic grimoire (Sefer Raziel Ha. Malakh, 13th century) A hexagram has been noted on a Jewish tombstone in Taranto, Apulia in Southern Italy, which may date as early as the third century CE. [14] [15] The Jews of Apulia were noted for their scholarship in Kabbalah, which has been connected to the use of the Star of David. [16] Medieval Kabbalistic grimoires show hexagrams among the tables of segulot, but without identifying them as "Shield of David". In the Renaissance, in the 16th-century Land of Israel, the book Ets Khayim conveys the Kabbalah of Ha-Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria) who arranges the traditional items on the seder plate for Passover into two triangles, where they explicitly correspond to Jewish mystical concepts. The six sfirot of the masculine Zer Anpin correspond to the six items on the seder plate, while the seventh sfira being the feminine Malkhut corresponds to the plate itself. [17] [18] [19] However, these seder-plate triangles are parallel, one above the other, and do not actually form a hexagram. [20] According to G. S. Oegema (1996) Isaac Luria provided the hexagram with a further mystical meaning. In his book Etz Chayim he teaches that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram: above the three sefirot "Crown", "Wisdom", and "Insight", below the other seven. [21] [page needed] Similarly, M. Costa[full citation needed] wrote that M. Gudemann and other researchers in the 1920s claimed that Isaac Luria was influential in turning the Star of David into a national Jewish emblem by teaching that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram. Gershom Scholem (1990) disagrees with this view, arguing that Isaac Luria talked about parallel triangles one beneath the other and not about the hexagram. [22] The Star of David at least since the 20th century remains associated with the number seven and thus with the Menorah, and popular accounts[unreliable source?] associate it with the six directions of space plus the center (under the influence of the description of space found in the Sefer Yetsira: Up, Down, East, West, South, North, and Center) , or the Six Sefirot of the Male (Zeir Anpin) united with the Seventh Sefirot of the Female (Nukva) . [23] Some say that one triangle represents the ruling tribe of Judah and the other the former ruling tribe of Benjamin. It is also seen as a dalet and yud, the two letters assigned to Judah. There are 12 Vav, or "men," representing the 12 tribes or patriarchs of Israel. Official usage in Central European communities Historical flag of the Jewish Community in Prague In 1354, King of Bohemia Charles IV prescribed for the Jews of Prague a red flag with both David's shield and Solomon's seal,[clarification needed] while the red flag with which the Jews met King Matthias of Hungary in the 15th century showed two pentagrams with two golden stars. [24] In 1460, the Jews of Ofen (Buda, now part of Budapest, Hungary) received King Matthias Corvinus with a red flag on which were two Shields of David and two stars. In the first Hebrew prayer book, printed in Prague in 1512, a large hexagram appears on the cover. In the colophon is written: "Each man beneath his flag according to the house of their fathers. . . and he will merit to bestow a bountiful gift on anyone who grasps the Shield of David. " In 1592, Mordechai Maizel was allowed to affix "a flag of King David, similar to that located on the Main Synagogue" on his synagogue in Prague. Following the Battle of Prague (1648) , the Jews of Prague were again granted a flag, in recognition in their contribution to the city's defense. That flag showed a yellow hexagram on a red background, with a star placed in the center of the hexagram. [25] As a symbol of Judaism and the Jewish community Herzl's proposed flag, as sketched in his diaries. Although he drew a Star of David, he did not describe it as such Max Bodenheimer's (top left) and Herzl's (top right) 1897 drafts of the Zionist flag, compared to the final version used at the 1897 First Zionist Congress (bottom) The symbol became representative of the worldwide Zionist community, and later the broader Jewish community, after it was chosen to represent the First Zionist Congress in 1897. [26] [10] A year before the congress, Herzl had written in his 1896 Der Judenstaat: We have no flag, and we need one. If we desire to lead many men, we must raise a symbol above their heads. I would suggest a white flag, with seven golden stars. The white field symbolizes our pure new life; the stars are the seven golden hours of our working-day. For we shall march into the Promised Land carrying the badge of honor. [27] David Wolffsohn (1856–1914) , a businessman prominent in the early Zionist movement, was aware that the nascent Zionist movement had no official flag, and that the design proposed by Theodor Herzl was gaining no significant support, wrote: At the behest of our leader Herzl, I came to Basle to make preparations for the Zionist Congress. Among many other problems that occupied me then was one that contained something of the essence of the Jewish problem. What flag would we hang in the Congress Hall? Then an idea struck me. We have a flag—and it is blue and white. The talith (prayer shawl) with which we wrap ourselves when we pray: that is our symbol. Let us take this Talith from its bag and unroll it before the eyes of Israel and the eyes of all nations. So I ordered a blue and white flag with the Shield of David painted upon it. That is how the national flag, that flew over Congress Hall, came into being. In the early 20th century, the symbol began to be used to express Jewish affiliations in sports. Hakoah Vienna was a Jewish sports club founded in Vienna, Austria, in 1909 whose teams competed with the Star of David on the chest of their uniforms, and won the 1925 Austrian League soccer championship. [28] Similarly, The Philadelphia Sphas basketball team in Philadelphia (whose name was an acronym of its founding South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) wore a...