The history of the origin of the Star of David

Фото: Depositphotos

Magen David, the so-called “shield of David” - a six-pointed star, hexagram, adorns ancient books and objects of Jewish ritual.

It was worn by the inhabitants of the medieval ghettos and victims of Nazism.

The star of David was portrayed by the authors of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli cartoons - so that no one would be mistaken in the address of their smashing satire.

The same star adorns the Jewish tombstones in different countries of the world. Russian anti-Semites claim in their press that the six-pointed star is a sign of the devil, a symbol of universal evil ...

What place does it occupy in the Jewish tradition? First, a little history.

The six-pointed star was used as a decorative element and, possibly, a mystical symbol - even in the deepest antiquity of many peoples. But most often it was used by the ancient Jews - mainly on household utensils.

The oldest image of this kind known to us is the 7 seal of the century BC discovered in Cidona, which belonged to one Joshua ben Yeshayau.

In the period of the Second Temple, the hexagram, along with the pentagram (the five-pointed star, it is “the shield of Solomon”), decorated various objects and buildings, both Jewish and non-Jewish. As an example, we can mention the synagogue in Kfar Nahum (2-3 century AD), in the ornament of which five- and six-pointed stars alternate, as well as cruciform shapes with broken ends (resembling a swastika). However, in the Hellenistic era, Magen David was not used in Jewish symbolism.

A thousand years ago, the hexagonal star was an international sign. It was found on early Christian amulets and in Muslim ornaments called the “seal of Solomon.” But already in the 13-14 centuries, Magen David appears on the pediments of German synagogues and on Jewish manuscripts - although this time only as a decorative element, without any symbolic meaning. In the same era, they began to decorate amulets and mezuzahs, and in the late Middle Ages, Jewish texts on Kabbalah.

The term “Magen David” itself dates back to the era of the Babylonian geons. It is mentioned as the legendary “shield of King David” in a text interpreting the magical “alphabet of the angel Metatron.” This interpretation has become widespread among Ashkenazi communities. The grandson of Ramban (14th century) wrote about the hexagonal “shield of David” in his work on Kabbalah. It was alleged that warriors of the victorious army of King David used a shield of a similar shape. True, his personal seal, as some sources indicate, contained an image not of a star, but of a shepherd’s crook and scrip. But the royal seal of Shlomo (Solomon), the son of David, had the shape of a five-pointed star.

In the 14-18 centuries, Magen David is widely used by Jewish and non-Jewish printers and is often found on the family emblems. In 1354, Charles IV bestowed the right to have his own flag on Prague Jews - a red flag with a six-pointed star. Magen David also decorated the official seal of the community. Throughout the 17-18 centuries, this sign was adopted by the Jews of Moravia and Austria, and then by Italy and the Netherlands. Somewhat later, it spread among the communities of Eastern Europe. In kabbalist circles, the “shield of David” was interpreted as “the shield of the son of David,” that is, the Messiah. Followers of the false messiah Shabbtai Zvi (the end of the 17 century) saw in him a symbol of speedy deliverance.

In the 19 century, emancipated Jews chose Magen David as a national symbol as opposed to the Christian cross. It was during this period that the six-pointed star was adopted by almost all communities of the Jewish world. It began to appear on the buildings of synagogues and Jewish institutions, on monuments and gravestones, on seals and letterheads, on household and religious items.

In 1799, Magen David was first used as a specific Jewish symbol in anti-Semitic cartoons. In 1822, the Rothschild family, having received a title of nobility, included Magen David in his family coat of arms.

The first Zionist congress 1897 of the year adopted a six-pointed star as a symbol of the Jewish national movement, and in the same year it graced the cover of the first issue of Di Welt magazine, published by Theodor Herzl.

Over time, Magen David appeared on the state blue and white flag of Israel, although a more authentic and ancient Jewish emblem was chosen as the emblem - the Menorah, the image of a temple lamp.

For the Jews of the Torah, Magen David is not devoid of the generally accepted semantic load. There is a tradition to decorate them with a sukkah - a special hut in which a Jew lives during the days of the holiday of Sukot. The six ends of a star posted in a sukkah correspond to six “guests” visiting each Jewish sukkah in the first six days of Sukkot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, Aaron and Yosef. The seventh “guest” unites them all - King David.

Another detail: Magen David has 12 ribs, which corresponds to the 12 tribes of Israel, over which David reigned and which will be restored with the arrival of Mashiach, the direct heir of King David.

Kabbalists also teach that the six ends of the “stars of David” correspond to the six spatial directions — earth, sky, north, south, east, west — which means the omnipotence of God. A curious linguistic detail: the Hebrew words Magen David also consist of six letters.

The number of edges of both triangles that form Magen David indicate a “perfect” number 6, equal to the sum of its multipliers. Long since this number was endowed with mystical meaning in various esoteric teachings.

Perhaps it was the geometric feature of the “Jewish star” that mystified anti-Semites in different countries. The Nazis marked Jews with a yellow “mark of shame.” One of the leading Russian anti-Semites seriously asserted that six-pointed typographical stars are a secret sign of the “Judeo-Masons.”

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