Star of David

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The blue Star of David made up of two interwoven triangles
Star of David red-green (Jewish art)
Star of David of the former Semper Synagogue in Dresden, today the death hall of the New Jewish Cemetery
Element of the roof balustrade of the synagogue in Hamm (Sieg) with a Star of David made of two interwoven triangles
Star of David in the gable window of a house in Jever

The Star of David ( Hebrew מגן דוד Magen David , German 'Schild Davids' ), named after King David , is a hexagram symbol with religious meaning. Today it is primarily a symbol of the people of Israel and Judaism . The name comes from a medieval legend. Before that it was also known as the "Seal of Solomon".

The symbol consists of two blue, intertwined equilateral triangles , one pointing upwards and one pointing downwards, the centers of which are identical. This creates a regular hexagon in the middle of the representation , on the sides of which there are six small equilateral triangles whose side length (and thus that of the hexagon) is each one third of the side length of the two basic triangles.

Interpretation of the symbol

Depending on the purpose and use of the hexagram, the meaning of this symbol also varies. For example, the Star of David is interpreted as a symbolic representation of the relationship between humans and God. The triangle pointing downwards says: Man received his life from God. The triangle pointing upwards says: man will return to God. The twelve corners of the star are said to represent the twelve tribes of Israel . In addition, the six triangles stand for the six days of creation and the large hexagon in the middle stands for the seventh day, the day of rest.

History of the Star of David

Hellenism, talisman in the early Middle Ages

In the Hellenistic world , the hexagram was initially a decorative motif generally used by Jews and non- Jews and evidently had no direct reference to Judaism.

In the early Middle Ages the hexagram acquired a defensive meaning and was used by Muslims, Christians and Jews alike as a talisman against demons and the danger of fire. Church buildings, Bible manuscripts and Christian and Jewish signatures on official documents were given this symbol.

Shift in meaning from guild to Jewish symbolism, creation of legends

Around the 14th century, Jewish mystical texts combined the hexagram as a talisman - as well as other symbols - with older representations on a shield that was associated with the power of God and is said to have protected King David. With the advent of printing in the 15th century, some Jewish publishers in Europe used the hexagram to design their imprimatures .

The assertion, often quoted in the literature, that Emperor Charles IV allowed Prague Jews to wear a flag with the Star of David in 1357 was refuted by the Czech historian Alexander Putík as early as 1993. He cites the chronicler Wenzel Hagek (Hajek) von Libotschan as the originator of this legend, which cannot be proven by any sources . In his 1541 published and well-read, but extremely unreliable chronicle of Czech history Kronyka Czeská, which is richly decorated in literary terms, he describes a red banner with a Star of David and Solomon's seal. The widespread use and persistence of this legend can also be seen in the fact that a red banner with a golden Star of David can be found in the large coat of arms of the city of Prague (see Prague coat of arms ), in which it symbolizes the Prague district of Josefov (Josefstadt). Putík proved that the Jewish community of Prague first used the Magen David (Star of David) on their banner in 1490 during the public celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of Vladislav II as King of Hungary. The banner had the same shape as the guild banners , and its public display was presumably approved by Vladislav II. The banner was kept in the Old New Synagogue in Prague. In 1598, Emperor Rudolf II granted Mordechai Meisel the right, as a token of a special grace, to have a banner of the same design made for his private synagogue. The banners were only taken out of the synagogue and shown publicly on special occasions such as coronation ceremonies, visits to the king in Prague or the birth of an heir to the throne. The banners have seen a number of changes throughout history. A Jewish hat has been embedded in the Star of David since the middle of the 16th century . Since 1623 the Prague Jewish community has been allowed to use a seal , the impressions of which show the Star of David and the Jewish hat. The same symbols can be found as decorations on public buildings such as the Old New Synagogue and the Jewish Town Hall . From Prague, the use of the hexagram spread to Jewish communities across Europe from the 17th century. Putík attributes this to the messianic meaning of the symbol.

In the 17th century, a boundary stone separated the Christian quarter (with a cross) from the Jewish quarter (with a hexagram) in Vienna . There the hexagram was used for the first time as a symbol of religious identification equivalent to the cross.

Some flags of the pre-Ottoman empires on the Aegean show how little the star was considered a symbol of the Jewish community in the Middle Ages, but rather had Old Testament connections. During the late Middle Ages the symbol was used as the "Seal of Solomon" in the flags of the Turkish Candar and Karaman .

Increasing political importance

Karlsruhe synagogue with the floor plan of a Star of David
Star of David symbolism in the Munich synagogue

From the 18th century onwards, the hexagram was considered a general symbol of faith. With the Enlightenment in the 18th century, when the emancipation of Jews in Europe aroused hopes for full citizenship in the newly formed European nation-states, an important change occurred. So far, Judaism has never been recognized as being equivalent by the other book religions . For the integration-conscious Jews of the Enlightenment who advocated Judaism as a religion, a symbol was required that represented the religion like the cross in Christianity. The Star of David ( Magen David ) offered itself as such a symbol . Non-Jewish architects used the Magen David to delimit the similar building forms from churches when building synagogues.

The early illustration of a hexagram called "Scutum Davidicum" (David plate) is found as a frontispiece in of Goethe cited document "Natvrae Nature & Antis [et] Naturatae Mysterivm, in Scvto Davidico exhibitum [...] i D.. [That is] the secret of the creative and created nature; included in David's shield […] Berlenburg [ Berleburg ] by Johann Jacob Haug / In the year 1724. "

When, at the end of the 19th century, European Jews finally became increasingly equal and involved in political events, anti-Semitism grew in non-Jewish circles. Zionism can be seen as the answer to this : the movement to establish an independent Jewish nation-state . The Zionists adopted the Magen David as a secular rather than a religious symbol.

During the National Socialist era , the police ordinance of September 1, 1941 imposed on people who were considered to be Jews under the racial laws to wear a modified version of the Magen David, the “ Jewish Star” (“Yellow Star”), to mark their clothing publicly. This can be seen as a repetition of events in medieval Europe, in which Christian princes ordered the wearing of a yellow patch to make the Jews recognizable to the Christians.

When the state of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, the Magen David became the emblem of the national flag of Israel .

Others

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Star of David  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Star of David  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Václav Hájek z Libočan: Kronyka Czeská. Edited by J. F. von Ssenfeld. 1819, urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb10934558-2 .
  2. ↑ Alexander Putík: The Origin of the Symbols of the Praque Jewish Town. The Banner of the Old-New Synagogue - David's Shield and the "Swedish Hat". In: Judaica Bohemiae . Edited by Židovské Muzeum v Praze . Vol. XXIX, Praha 1993, ISSN  0022-5738 . - See the review by Joseph Gutmann: History and Judaica. In: Jewish Post. January 11, 1995, p. NAT 5, NAT 14 (English; newspapers.library.in.gov [accessed March 8, 2019]).
  3. ↑ On this work and on the template published as early as 1714 for the hexagram used in the frontispiece, see Reinhard Breymayer : Oetinger's secret feud with Christian Thomasius . In: Mathesis, natural philosophy and arcane science in the vicinity of Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702–1782) (= Contubernium. Tübingen contributions to the history of universities and science. Volume 63). Edited by Sabine Holtz . Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-515-08439-8 , pp. 251-283; Figures ibid, pp. 257-260; also particularly pp. 266–271.