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Judaic Symbols
http://www.byzant.com/symbols/judaic.html
The main symbols of Judaism are both ancient and abstract
- the commandment forbidding the creation of 'graven images'
for fear of idolatry prevented the production of representations
of God or human beings. Jewish symbols have been employed
not only by Jews themselves but also by mystics throughout
the ages, and their deep levels of meaning and antiquity lend
them their continuing importance. |
| The Star
of David, or magen David ('Shield of David'), is
a strong symbol of Jewish identity, and as a hexagram it represents
the interaction of the Divine with the mortal. It has strong
links with the Kabbalah,
and is sometimes known as the Seal of Solomon or the Creator's
Star. |
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The menorah
is a seven-branched candlestick, and it is one of the oldest
symbols of Judaism. Its traditional form is given in Exodus
25:31-37, and its seven candle holders and three central
joints represent the ten sefirot of the Tree
of Life. |
| The
hanukiyah or Chanukah
menorah has nine rather than the traditional seven branches.
It is used during the eight-day festival of Chanukah, holding
one candle for each day and a ninth, the shamash, to light the
others. |
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The
Tetragrammaton is the holy "four-lettered name"
of God, most properly transliterated as YHVH. The name is considered
so sacred that it is never spoken aloud by devout Jews. |
| The Tree
of Life is the symbol at the heart of the Kabbalah.
It encapsulates creation and existence, and in the Western Kabbalah
forms a whole host of associations with other symbolic systems,
such as astrology
and the Tarot. |
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