Sad but true .Happened to me , ended up marrying Netta, the Yenta Shomer Hatzair Kibbutznik from Gevaram,a Nogschlepper Delux instead of Denise, the Bolivian Oleh Chadasha , an Executive PA and daughter of two Yekkes and who my late Mom used to refer to as ,"God's Gift to Mother-In-Laws"....Mom's are always right..... listen to their advice always :-) but hey.... I am still young enough to have a go at the big M again...the, Chuppah with kids and I am certainly willing, wanting and available. Be proactive . My name is Stephen Darori. Mobile 0527234313 stephendarori@hotmail.com Be proactive or ask a friend, sister or aunt to be ....
I was given a sneak preview of the new format (template) of Shabbat.com for notebook and laptop computers that is in the final stages of development . It looks wonderful with a number of new features and when it is released in a few weeks time Shabbat.com will be well on its was to capture a Lion of Judea from Facebook. Shabbat,com has three modules.The Lion of Judea in the Middle Ages was a symbol of Judaism and often was incorporated in Coat of Arms of prominent Jews .
The first is a Shabbat and Chaggim Hosting Module , matching Wonderful Hosts with Guest who want to have a Kosher Shabbat Experience. The second is a Status update much like Facebook and after the revision in the final stages of development Shabbat.com come will look similar to Facebook's Timeline certainly in terms of functionality.The third is the Dating Module . Unlike other Jewish Dating Sites , Shabbat.com Dating site is completely free with no premium charges . Inane and Silly questionnaires have been largely dispensed with and it is anything but anonymous. You sell yourself and wants by what you write about yourself and what you are looking for. Try it . Shidduch yourselves and your single friends and hey .... I am available, willing and wanting (for dating that will lead to a chuppah with kids) . My name is Stephen Darori I have profiles also on Linkedin, Twitter , and Facebook .
The mitzva of hachnasat orchim (hospitality) is as old as the first Jew,Avraham Avinu. Among all the great personalities of the Torah he stands out, not only as a man of faith, but also as a man of chesed (lovingkindness). According to the Torah commentaries, he would sit at the doorway of his tent ready to welcome any passers-by. While doing his utmost to provide every physical comfort, he would also uplift his guests spiritually through his radiant kindness. Indeed, we are taught that Abraham and Sarah separately converted hundreds of men and women to following G‑d by their example and by their teaching. Perhaps it is because these two very effective methods for deepening love of Judaism and other Jews are present so naturally in hachnasat orchim that it is such a central mitzva in Judaism.
Jews have always needed the hospitality of other Jews for religious survival and even, during dark centuries of persecution, for physical survival. But there is a devotion to the mitzva of hospitality in traditional Jewish life which far exceeds the demands of necessity. Tales about impoverished sages and plain people who go to almost superhuman lengths to welcome strangers for Shabbat abound in the classic sources. Real-life accounts of Jews in Nazi Germany and in the Soviet Union who took great personal risks hosting a Seder meal are just as common in our own era. Jews have always known that "if I am for myself alone, what am I?"
Most Jews in most times, however, have not had to regard the mitzva as such a critical proposition. The main and sufficient reason for inviting guests is simply that it increases Shabbat joy, for host and guest alike. A table with just the family around it feels quite adequately full every other day of the week, but on Shabbat it can feel somehow empty, lacking. We miss the new voices singing and laughing with us.
A guest also enables a host to be more conscious of the beauty and educational value of Shabbat. If the guest is less observant than the host, there may be lots of teaching to do, which usually ends up benefiting the host as well. Teaching in this way helps him learn, reformulate, and re-learn. As the saying goes, "More than the host does for the poor man [meaning poor in money, knowledge, spirit, or anything else] the poor man does for the host."
For the host's children, the experience of having frequent Shabbat guests is invaluable. It teaches in the most powerful way, by vivid examples and without preaching, that they have something special in Shabbat, something that other people want to learn about and share with them. Some of Nechoma's earliest Shabbat memories are of her mother explaining to guests about hand washing, of guests asking questions, and, through their answers to the guests, of her parents teaching her along with them. Seeing kiddush, for example, through their guests' eyes made her appreciate its beauty even more.
Children absorb much more than the explicit content of their parents' teachings. They absorb implicit context as well. Nechoma also feels that she learned from her parents a total hosting style, of teaching guests naturally, of being oneself with guests, of welcoming them with joy, and of regarding them as an integral part of her life so integral, in fact, that one of her first purchases after marriage was a sofa-bed for company.
At a time when most Jewish children are brought up with one other child at most in a large, comfortable home with "no room for guests," this traditional Jewish way of hospitality is rarely experienced and badly needed. It develops the child's openness and an interest in others, in short, how to be a Jewish social being.
What Rabbi Benzion Klatzko has created and maintains largely out of his own pocket should be shared and promoted especially on Facebook.... the people index of the world with 1.66 billion individual . Seriously do so in your own Timeline ( Status Up Date) and on some of your preferred Pages and Groups.The URL of Shabbat.com http://www.shabbat.com/
The conceptual founder of Shabbat.com, Rabbi Klatzko brings over two decades of visionary leadership, staunch support of Israel, and Jewish activism to the project.
In what at the time was perceived as a bold move, 1999 saw the Klatzko family move to California so that he could accept the position of Campus Rabbi at UCLA. As a hands-on ambassador for the Jewish faith, he reconnected thousands of young Jewish men and women to their heritage. He also made an impressive splash in the broader Jewish community, earning the moniker “The Hollywood Rabbi.” Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and producers,including cast and staff from Friends, Malcolm in the Middle, Third Rock From the Sun, and Directors and Vice Presidents of Sony, Disney, and Warner Brothers, became regulars at his popular monthly class on Jewish thought.
Rabbi Klatzko’s activities touched-off a revolution that profoundly changed the landscape of North American Jewry. He currently serves as a National Director of College Outreach, overseeing Jewish education throughout North America. He also serves as an lecturer at Yeshiva University and at over 70 different North American colleges and universities each year.
A person of indefatigable energy, Rabbi Klatzko is also a successful author, cantor, music producer, and Mohel. A noted Judaica art collector, Rabbi Klatzko is the founder of Simcha Art Gallery in New York. His eclectic accomplishments have earned him the admiration of the United States Congress, where he was honored during a live session of House of Representatives as a “distinguished gentleman making a difference to his community.”
Rabbi Klatzko was named one of the 28 Most Inspiring Rabbis in America by the Jewish Forward Newspaper in 2014.
Rabbi Klatzko and his wife Shani and their 11 children currently live in
Monsey, New York, where hosting 80 or more people for Shabbos in
the norm. He has been at the frontier of improving Jewish communal life
in the United States for over two decades.
The Lion of Judea in the Middle Ages was a symbol of Judaism and often was incorporated in Coat of Arms of prominent Jews.This for example is my family's Coat of Arms going back to the 15th century. It is the Coat of Arms of the 7th Baron of Krakow who was bequeathed it by Count Dziedrueszycka , the Ordynat of Poturzyca, Zarzecze, Kramarzowka, Markpol, Gluszyn, Wiry and Szczytnik estates. The Count was the eldest son of Drues of Mejzugola , 5th Baron of Krakow and the black sheep of the family and was nearly excommunicated from the family when he married a shiksa .... the youngest daughter of the then Monarch, the King of Poland . Drues of Mejzugola didn't particularly like faribibles and placed family before religion and
his second elderst son redeemed himself when he incorporated the family name Drues into his own when he became Count Dziedrueszycka and added significant symbols of his affiliation to Judaism in his Coat of Arms
Star of David
The Star of David (✡), known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David (Hebrew מָגֵן דָּוִד; Biblical HebrewMāḡēn Dāwīḏ [maːˈɣeːn daːˈwiːð], Tiberian [mɔˈɣen dɔˈvið], Modern Hebrew [maˈɡen daˈvid], Ashkenazi Hebrew andYiddish Mogein Dovid [ˈmɔɡeɪn ˈdɔvid] or Mogen Dovid), is a generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles. Unlike the menorah, the Lion of Judah, the shofar and the lulav, the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol
During the 19th century the symbol began to proliferate amongst the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, ultimately being used amongst the Jewish communities in the Pale of Settlement. A significant motivating factor was the desire to imitate the influence of the Christian cross. The earliest Jewish usage of the symbol was inherited from medieval Arabic literature by Kabbalists for use in talismanic protective amulets (segulot) where it was known as a Seal of Solomon. The symbol was also used in Christian churches as a decorative motif many centuries before its first known use in a Jewish synagogue. Prior to 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.
The symbol became representative of the worldwide Zionist community, and later the broader Jewish community, after it was chosen as the central symbol on a flag at the First Zionist Congress in 1897.
The identification of the term "Star of David" or "Shield of David" with the hexagram shape dates to the 17th century. The term "Shield of David" is also used in the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) as a title of the God of Israel.
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 a 3rd–4th century synagogue in the Galilee. 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 pentagram in this form is found on the ancient synagogue at Tell Hum. In the synagogues, perhaps, it was associated with the mezuzah.
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. A Siddur dated 1512 from Prague displays a large hexagram on the cover with the phrase, "He will merit to bestow a bountiful gift on anyone who grasps the Shield of David."
Turcomans who ruled in Anatolia during the 13th century, inherited it from the Seljuk Turks. Islamic coins from the reign of Khalif Nasreddin Mahmoud bin Mohammad, following Turkish influence, sporting a double-headed eagle on one side and the Star of David on the other as early as year 1200.
Kabbalistic use
Page of segulot in a mediaeval Kabbalistic grimoire (Sefer Raziel HaMalakh, 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. The Jews of Apulia were noted for their scholarship in Kabbalah, which has been connected to the use of the Star of David.
Medieval Kabbalistic grimoires show hexagrams among the tables of segulot, but without identifying them as "Shield of David".
In the Renaissance Period, 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.
However, these seder-plate triangles are parallel, one above the other, and do not actually form a hexagram,.
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.
Similarly, M. Costa 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.
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 theSefer 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). 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, while the red flag with which the Jews met King Matthias of Hungary in the 15th century showed two pentagrams with two golden stars.
In 1460, the Jews of Ofen (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.
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
Béla Guttmann, footballer for Hakoah Vienna
Morocco Flag used in the early 20th century
Morocco Fez Embroidery Horse Cover
Palestinian Flag according to flag chart from Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustré, 1924
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.
A year prior to 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."
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. Similarly, The Philadelphia Sphasbasketball team in Philadelphia (whose name was an acronym of its founding South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) wore a large Star of David on their jerseys to proudly proclaim their Jewish identity, as they competed in the first half of the 20th century.
In boxing, Benny "the Ghetto Wizard" Leonard (who said he felt as though he was fighting for all Jews) fought with a Star of David embroidered on his trunks in the 1910s. World heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer fought with a Star of David on his trunks as well, notably, for the first time as he knocked out Nazi Germany hero Max Schmelingin 1933; Hitler never permitted Schmeling to fight a Jew again.
The Holocaust
The yellow badge
A Star of David, often yellow-colored, was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust as a method of identifying Jews. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 there were initially different local decrees forcing Jews to wear a distinct sign – in the General Government e.g. a white armband with a blue Star of David on it, in the Warthegau a yellow badge in the form of a Star of David on the left side of the breast and on the back. If a Jew was found without wearing the star in public, they could be subjected to severe punishment. The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word Jude (German for Jew) inscribed was then extended to all Jews over the age of six in the Reich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia(by a decree issued on September 1, 1941 signed by Reinhard Heydrich) and was gradually introduced in other Nazi-occupied areas. Others, however, wore the Star of David as a symbol of defiance against the Nazis antisemitism, as in the case of United States Army private Hal Baumgarten, who wore a Star of David emblazoned on his back during the 1944 invasion of Normandy.
Contemporary use
TheFlag of Israel
The flag of Israel, depicting a blue Star of David on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the country's establishment. The origins of the flag's design date from the First Zionist Congress in 1897; the flag has subsequently been known as the "flag of Zion".
Some Orthodox Jewish groups reject the use of the Jewish Star of David because of its association with magic.Neturei Karta and Satmar reject it because they associate it with Zionism.
Many Modern Orthodox synagogues, and many synagogues of other Jewish movements, however, have the Israeli flag with the Star of David prominently displayed at the front of the synagogues near the Ark containing the Torah scrolls.
Magen David Adom (MDA) ("Red Star of David" or, translated literally, "Red Shield of David") is Israel's only official emergency medical, disaster, ambulance service.
It has been an official member of the International Committee of the Red Cross since June 2006. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Magen David Adom was boycotted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which refused to grant the organization membership because "it was [...] argued that having an emblem used by only one country was contrary to the principles of universality." Other commentators said the ICRC did not recognize the medical and humanitarian use of this Jewish symbol, a Red Shield, alongside the Christian cross and the Muslim crescent.
The flag of Israel, depicting a blue Star of David on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the country's establishment. The origins of the flag's design date from the First Zionist Congress in 1897; the flag has subsequently been known as the "flag of Zion".
Some Orthodox Jewish groups reject the use of the Jewish Star of David because of its association with magic.Neturei Karta and Satmar reject it because they associate it with Zionism.
Many Modern Orthodox synagogues, and many synagogues of other Jewish movements, however, have the Israeli flag with the Star of David prominently displayed at the front of the synagogues near the Ark containing the Torah scrolls.
Magen David Adom (MDA) ("Red Star of David" or, translated literally, "Red Shield of David") is Israel's only official emergency medical, disaster, ambulance service.
It has been an official member of the International Committee of the Red Cross since June 2006. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Magen David Adom was boycotted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which refused to grant the organization membership because "it was [...] argued that having an emblem used by only one country was contrary to the principles of universality." Other commentators said the ICRC did not recognize the medical and humanitarian use of this Jewish symbol, a Red Shield, alongside the Christian cross and the Muslim crescent.
Use in sports
Since 1948, the Star of David has carried the dual significance of representing both the state of Israel, and Jewish identity in general. In the United States especially, it continues to be used in the latter sense by a number of athletes.
In baseball, Jewish major leaguer Gabe Kapler had a Star of David tattooed on his left calf in 2000, with the words "strong-willed" and "strong-minded", major leaguer Mike "SuperJew" Epstein drew a Star of David on his baseball glove, and major leaguer Ron Blomberg had a Star of David emblazoned in the knob of his bat which is on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame
NBA basketball star Amar'e Stoudemire, who says he is spiritually and culturally Jewish, had a Star of David tattoo put on his left hand in 2010.NFL football defensive end Igor Olshansky has Star of David tattoos on each side of his neck, near his shoulders.Israeli golfer Laetitia Beck displays a blue-and-white magen david symbol on her golf apparel
In boxing, Jewish light heavyweight world champion Mike "The Jewish Bomber" Rossman fought with a Star of David embroidered on his boxing trunks, and also has a blue Star of David tattoo on the outside of his right calf.
Other boxers fought with Stars of David embroidered on their trunks include world lightweight champion, world light heavyweight boxing championBattling Levinsky, Barney Ross (world champion as a lightweight, as a junior welterweight, and as a welterweight), world flyweight boxing champion Victor "Young" Peres, world bantamweight champion Alphonse Halimi, and more recently World Boxing Association super welterweight championYuri Foreman, light welterweight champion Cletus Seldin, and light middleweight Boyd Melson. Welterweight Zachary "Kid Yamaka" Wohlman has a tattoo of a Star of David across his stomach, and welterweight Dmitriy Salita even boxes under the nickname "Star of David".
Maccabi clubs still use the Star of David in their emblems.
Origin of the Name
The Jewish Encyclopedia cites a 12th-century Karaite document as the earliest Jewish literary source to mention a symbol called "Magen Dawid" (without specifying its shape).
The name 'Shield of David' was used by at least the 11th century as a title of the God of Israel, independent of the use of the symbol. The phrase occurs independently as a Divine title in the Siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book, where it poetically refers to the Divine protection of ancient King David and the anticipated restoration of his dynastic house, perhaps based on Psalm 18, which is attributed to David, and in which God is compared to a shield (v. 31 and v. 36). The term occurs at the end of the "Samkhaynu/Gladden us" blessing, which is recited after the reading of the Haftara portion on Saturday and holidays.
The earliest known text related to Judaism which mentions a sign called the "Shield of David" is Eshkol Ha-Kofer by the Karaite Judah Hadassi, in the mid-12th century CE:Seven names of angels precede the mezuzah: Michael, Gabriel, etc. …Tetragrammaton protect you! And likewise the sign, called the "Shield of David", is placed beside the name of each angel.
This book is of Karaite, and not of Rabbinic Jewish origin, and it does not describe the shape of the sign in any way.
Miscellaneous
- In Unicode, the "Star of David" symbol is U+2721 (✡).
- The world's largest Star of David (2,400 metres (7,900 ft) diameter) is at Harold Holt Naval Communications Station, Exmouth, Australia at
21.815927°S 114.165888°E.[65] - At London Heathrow Airport in the early 1950s were built six runways in ✡ layout, each a bit over a mile long.
- Some criminal gangs, including the Gangster Disciples and those affiliated with the Folk Nation, use the Star of David as their symbol. In the case of the Gangster Disciples this is a reference to the group's founder, David Barksdale, also known as "King David".
- The insignia of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has included a hexagram since the end of the 19th century.
Star in the Schneider Synagogue, Istanbul
Star in the Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue, Safed
The Magen David Adom Emblem
A synagogue in Karlsruhe, Germany, with the outline of a Star of David
A recruitment poster published in American Jewish magazines during WWI. Daughter of Zion(representing the Jewish people): Your Old New Land must have you! Join the Jewish regiment.
See also
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