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The Star Of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the '' seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative and mystical purposes by Muslims and Kabbalistic Jews, its adoption as a distinctive symbol for the Jewish people and their religion dates back to 17th-century Prague. In the 19th century, the symbol began to be widely used among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, ultimately coming to be used to represent Jewish identity or religious beliefs."The Flag and the Emblem" (MFA). It became representative of Zionism after it was chosen as the central symbol for a Jewish national flag at the First Zionist Congress in 1897. By the end of World War I, it had become an internationally accepted symbol for the Jewish people, being used on the gravestones of fallen Jewish soldiers. Today, the star is used as the central symbol on the natio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandments ('' mitzvot''), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the ''Shulchan Aruch''. ''Halakha'' is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation of it might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the root which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). ''Halakha'' not only guides religious practices and beliefs, it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, in the Jewish diaspora, ''halakha'' served many Jewish communities as an enforceable avenue of law – both civil and religious, since no differentiation of them exists in classical Judaism. Since the Jewish Enlightenment (''Hask ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jewish tradition as the Land of Israel, which corresponds in other terms to the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, Canaan, or the Holy Land, on the basis of a long Jewish connection and attachment to that land. Modern Zionism emerged in the late 19th century in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe as a national revival movement, both in reaction to newer waves of antisemitism and as a response to Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment. Soon after this, most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired homeland in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire. From 1897 to 1948, the primary goal of the Zionist Movement was to establish the basis for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Segula (Kabbalah)
A segula ( he, סגולה, pl. סגולות, ''segulot'', "remedy" or "protection") is protective or benevolent charm or ritual in Kabbalistic and Talmudic tradition. Etymology The word ''segula'' appears in the Hebrew Bible iExodus 19:5an where God refers to the Jewish nation as his ''segula'' (treasure). The root of this word, ''segol'', is the name of a Hebrew vowel-point represented by three dots. According to the Ohr Hachaim, a ''segula'' is "a charm that supersedes logic". List of ''segulot'' Following is a list of popular or well-known ''segulot''. Fertility and childbirth *Distributing '' chai rotel'' (about 54 liters) of drink at the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron, Israel on Lag BaOmer is considered a propitious remedy for infertility, as well as for helping a person find his mate or recover from serious illness *Acting as '' kvatterin'' for a baby boy at his ''brit milah'' is a ''segula'' for childless couples to have children of their own * studying of w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt's capital. During the Hellenistic period, it was home to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which ranked among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as well as the storied Library of Alexandria. Today, the library is reincarnated in the disc-shaped, ultramodern Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Its 15th-century seafront Qaitbay Citadel is now a museum. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" by locals, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. The city extends about along the northern coast of Egypt, and is the largest city on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Hebraea
Mary or Maria the Jewess ( la, Maria Hebraea), also known as Mary the Prophetess ( la, Maria Prophetissa) or Maria the Copt ( ar, مارية القبطية, Māriyya al-Qibṭiyya), was an early alchemist known from the works of Zosimos of Panopolis () and other authors in the Greek alchemical tradition. On the basis of Zosimos's comments, she lived between the first and third centuries A.D. in Alexandria. French, Taylor and Lippmann list her as one of the first alchemical writers, dating her works at no later than the first century. She is credited with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first true alchemist of the Western world.. Through Zosimos many of the beliefs of Mary the Jewess can be observed. Mary incorporated lifelike attributes into her descriptions of metal such as bodies, souls, and spirits. Mary believed that metals had two different genders and by joining these two genders together a new entity could be made. By joi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The term ''Talmud'' normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud (). It may also traditionally be called (), a Hebrew abbreviation of , or the "six orders" of the Mishnah. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (, 200 CE), a written compendium of the Oral Torah; and the Gemara (, 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. The term "Talmud" may refer to eith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mysticism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Scholem is acknowledged by the sages as the single most significant figure in the recovery, collection, annotation, and registration into rigorous Jewish scholarship of the canonical bibliography of mysticism and scriptural commentary that runs through its primordial phase in the '' Sefer Yetzirah,'' its inauguration in the ''Bahir,'' its exegesis in the ''Pardes'' and the '' Zohar'' to its cosmogonic, apocalyptic climax in Isaac Luria's ''Ein Sof'' that is known collectively as Kabballah. After generations of demoralization and assimilation in the European enlightenment, the disappointment of messianic hopes, the famine of 1916 in Palestine, and the catastrophe of the Final Solution in Europe Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' refers to all of the area that is north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and south of the east–west section of the Litani River. It extends from the Israeli coastal plain and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with Acre in the west, to the Jordan Rift Valley to the east; and from the Litani in the north plus a piece bordering on the Golan Heights all the way to Dan at the base of Mount Hermon in the northeast, to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south. This definition includes the plains of the Jezreel Valley north of Jenin and the Beth Shean Valley, the valley containing the Sea of Galilee, and the Hula Valley, although it usually does not include Haifa's immediate northern suburbs. By this definiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lulav
''Lulav'' (; he, לולב) is a closed frond of the date palm tree. It is one of the Four Species used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other Species are the ''hadass'' (Myrtus, myrtle), '' aravah'' (willow), and ''etrog'' (citron). When bound together, the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and ''aravah'' are commonly referred to as "the lulav". Codification in the Torah The Torah mentions the commandments to obtain a ''lulav'' for the ''Sukkot'' holiday once in Leviticus: ''Leviticus 23:40'' : :"And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days." In the Oral Torah, the ''Mishnah'' comments that the biblical commandment to take the ''lulav'', along with the other three species, is for all seven days of ''Sukkot'' only in and around the Temple Mount when the Holy Temple in Jerusalem is extant, as indicated by the verse as "in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shofar
A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure. The shofar is blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur; it is also blown every weekday morning in the month of Elul running up to Rosh Hashanah. Shofars come in a variety of sizes and shapes, depending on the choice of animal and level of finish. Bible and rabbinic literature The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and rabbinic literature. In the first instance, in , the blast of a shofar emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai makes the Israelites tremble in awe. The shofar was used to announce the new moon and the Jubilee year. The first day of Tishrei (now known as Rosh Hashana) is termed a "memorial of blowing", or "day of blowing", the shofar. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lion Of Judah
The Lion of Judah ( he, אריה יהודה, ) is a Jewish national and cultural symbol, traditionally regarded as the symbol of the tribe of Judah. The association between the Judahites and the lion can first be found in the blessing given by Jacob to his fourth son, Judah, in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. It is also mentioned in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament as a term representing Jesus of Nazareth, according to Christian theology. The Lion of Judah was also one of the titles used by Ethiopian emperors from the Solomonic dynasty. History Judaism The biblical Judah (in Hebrew: ''Yehuda'') is the eponymous ancestor of the Tribe of Judah, which is traditionally symbolized by a lion. In Genesis, the patriarch Jacob ("Israel") gave that symbol to this tribe when he refers to his son Judah as a , "Young Lion" (Genesis 49:9) when blessing him. In Jewish naming tradition the Hebrew name and the substitute name are often combined as a pair, as in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple Menorah
The menorah (; he, מְנוֹרָה ''mənōrā'', ) is a seven-branched candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible as having been used in the Tabernacle and in the Temple in Jerusalem. Since antiquity, it has served as a symbol of the Jewish people and Judaism in both the Land of Israel and the Diaspora; it is depicted on the Israeli national emblem. According to the Hebrew Bible, the menorah was made out of pure gold, and the only source of fuel that was allowed to be used to light the lamps was fresh olive oil. Biblical tradition holds that Solomon's Temple was home to ten menorahs, which were later plundered by the Babylonians; the Second Jewish Temple is also said to have been home to a menorah. Following the Roman besiegement of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the menorah was taken to Rome; the Arch of Titus, which still stands today, famously depicts the menorah being carried away by the triumphant Romans along with other spoils of the destroyed Second Jewish Temple. Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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