Davidsstjerne

Davidsstjernen (på hebraisk Magen David) er en sekstakket stjernefigur, et heksagram, formet af to trekanter. Symbolet har været kendt siden bronzealderen og har været brugt i mange kulturer. Davidsstjernen blev populær, efter at den var antaget som emblem for zionist-bevægelsen i 1897, men fortsatte alligevel med at være kontroversiel; og da staten Israel blev grundlagt, var der livlig debat om, hvorvidt symbolet også skulle benyttes på flaget.^[1]

Betydning

Nogen har hævdet, at det opadpegende trekant viser vej til Gud, mens det nedadvendte peger mod den virkelige verden. Andre lægger vægt på, at trianglerne hænger uadskilleligt sammen, ligesom det jødiske folk. Andre ser de tre sider som et symbol på tre slags jøder: kohanim, levitter og Israel. Ingen af tolkningerne findes der historisk dækning for. Faktisk forekommer symbolet så sjældent i tidlig jødisk litteratur og kunst, at forfalskning mistænkes, hvis man finder symbolet i tidlige arbejder. ^[1]

Historie

Davidsstjernen var aldrig noget unikt jødisk symbol; ^[2] I 1800-tallet vandt den udbredelse i Østeuropa som symbol for jøder. En stærkt motiverende faktor var det at den skulle have en position tilsvarende de kristnes kors. ^[3] Den tidligste jødiske benyttelse af symbolet skete under påvirkning fra middelalderens arabiske litteratur af kabbalister til brug i beskyttende amuletter kaldet segulot. Her kaldtes davidsstjernen Salomons segl efter Bibelens kong Salomon. ^[4]^[5] Davidsstjernen blev også benyttet som dekorativt motiv i kristne kirker mange århundreder før den første gang blev benyttet i en synagoge. ^[6]

I den arabiske tradition kaldes davidsstjernen "Davids skjold", tilsvarende betydningen af dens hebraiske navn, Magen David. ^[7]

Nazisterne krævede i nogle lande, at jøderne skulle gå med en gul davidsstjerne på deres tøj ("jødestjerne"). Dette blev dog aldrig gennemført overfor danske, norske eller finske jøder.

En retssag om brug af davidsstjernen

I 1912 forsøgte forretningsmanden Knut Berli i Ålesund at registrere Davidsstjernen som sit varemærke for fiskehermetik. Inde i stjernen stod ordet kosher med hebraiske bogstaver. Mosaisk Trossamfund gik derpå til sag mod Berli. Et privat firma kunne naturligvis ikke sådan få eneret til et universelt symbol for, at tilberedningen er foregået efter jødiske retningslinjer. 14. august 1914 faldt der dom i sagen, og det mosaiske trossamfund fik medhold. ^[8]

Galleri

Staten Israels flag.
Brugt af israelske kampfly.
Brugt af Israels marine.
Den ikke-anerkendte "Røde Davidsstjerne", som bruges af det israelske Magen David Adom.
Gul davidsstjerne, Jødestjernen, var påbudt tøjmærke for jøder i Nazi-Tyskland og tyske områder under 2. verdenskrig. Gul davidsstjerne har siden været et af 1900-tallets mest kendte symboler på antisemitisme.

Referencer

^ ^a ^b "The Star of David". Arkiveret fra originalen 20. oktober 2007. Hentet 26. august 2016.
^ The Flag and the Emblem, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arkiveret 13. maj 2019 hos Wayback Machine, citat: "Unlike the menora (candelabrum), the Lion of Judah, the shofar (ram's horn) and the lulav (palm frond), the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol."
^ The Flag and the Emblem, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arkiveret 13. maj 2019 hos Wayback Machine, citat: "According to Sholem, the motive for the widespread use of the Star of David was a wish to imitate Christianity. During the Emancipation, Jews needed a symbol of Judaism parallel to the cross, the universal symbol of Christianity."
^ Leonora Leet: "The Hexagram and Hebraic Sacred Science" in :The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah, 1999, 212-217.
^ Scholem 1949, s. 246:"In the beginning these designs had no special names or terms, and it is only in the Middle Ages that definite names began to be given to some of those most widely used. There is very little doubt that terms like these first became popular among the Arabs, who showed a tremendous interest in all the occult sciences, arranging and ordering them systematically long before the Practical Cabalists thought of doing so.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that for a long time both the five-pointed and the six-pointed stars were called by one name, the "Seal of Solomon," and that no distinction was made between them. This name is obviously related to the Jewish legend of Solomon's dominion over the spirits, and of his ring with the Ineffable Name engraved on it. These legends expanded and proliferated in a marked fashion during the Middle Ages, among Jews and Arabs alike, but the name, "Seal of Solomon," apparently originated with the Arabs. This term they did not apply to any one design exclusively; they applied it to an entire series of seven seals to which they attributed extreme potency in putting to flight the forces of the Demon."
^ Scholem 1949, s. 244:"It is not to be found at all in medieval synagogues or on medieval ceremonial objects, although it has been found in quite a number of medieval Christian churches again, not as a Christian symbol but only as a decorative motif. The appearance of the symbol in Christian churches long before its appearance in our synagogues should warn the overzealous interpreters."
^ "The Star of David's Significance in Judaism". Arkiveret fra originalen 23. februar 2017. Hentet 26. august 2016.
^ Therese Ålvik: Familien Steinfeld (s. 58), forlaget Selja, Førde 2013, ISBN 978-82-8240-074-9

Eksterne henvisninger

Wikimedia Commons har flere filer relateret til Davidsstjerne

[autogeneret1-1] "The Star of David". Arkiveret fra originalen 20. oktober 2007. Hentet 26. august 2016.

[2] The Flag and the Emblem, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arkiveret 13. maj 2019 hos Wayback Machine, citat: "Unlike the menora (candelabrum), the Lion of Judah, the shofar (ram's horn) and the lulav (palm frond), the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol."

[3] The Flag and the Emblem, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arkiveret 13. maj 2019 hos Wayback Machine, citat: "According to Sholem, the motive for the widespread use of the Star of David was a wish to imitate Christianity. During the Emancipation, Jews needed a symbol of Judaism parallel to the cross, the universal symbol of Christianity."

[4] Leonora Leet: "The Hexagram and Hebraic Sacred Science" in :The Secret Doctrine of the Kabbalah, 1999, 212-217.

[FOOTNOTEScholem1949246-5] Scholem 1949, s. 246:"In the beginning these designs had no special names or terms, and it is only in the Middle Ages that definite names began to be given to some of those most widely used. There is very little doubt that terms like these first became popular among the Arabs, who showed a tremendous interest in all the occult sciences, arranging and ordering them systematically long before the Practical Cabalists thought of doing so.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that for a long time both the five-pointed and the six-pointed stars were called by one name, the "Seal of Solomon," and that no distinction was made between them. This name is obviously related to the Jewish legend of Solomon's dominion over the spirits, and of his ring with the Ineffable Name engraved on it. These legends expanded and proliferated in a marked fashion during the Middle Ages, among Jews and Arabs alike, but the name, "Seal of Solomon," apparently originated with the Arabs. This term they did not apply to any one design exclusively; they applied it to an entire series of seven seals to which they attributed extreme potency in putting to flight the forces of the Demon."

[FOOTNOTEScholem1949244-6] Scholem 1949, s. 244:"It is not to be found at all in medieval synagogues or on medieval ceremonial objects, although it has been found in quite a number of medieval Christian churches again, not as a Christian symbol but only as a decorative motif. The appearance of the symbol in Christian churches long before its appearance in our synagogues should warn the overzealous interpreters."

[7] "The Star of David's Significance in Judaism". Arkiveret fra originalen 23. februar 2017. Hentet 26. august 2016.

[8] Therese Ålvik: Familien Steinfeld (s. 58), forlaget Selja, Førde 2013, ISBN 978-82-8240-074-9

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