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Star of David
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The Star of David in the oldest surviving complete copy
of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008.
|
The Mystical
Significance
Kabbalistic
Insights Into the Star of David
By Naftali Silberberg
The Star of David in
the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex,
dated 1008.
The Star of David is
a symbol commonly associated with Judaism and the Jewish People.
In Hebrew, it is
called Magen David (“Shield of David”).
A six-pointed star,
the Star of David is composed of two overlaid equilateral triangles, one
pointing up and the other pointing down.
Two Triangles in the Star of David
The Zohar (3:73a) states, “There are three knots
connecting [three entities] one to another: the Holy One, blessed be He; Torah;
and Israel.”
The Jewish soul
connects to its Creator through the study and observance of Torah. The triangle
represents the connection between these three entities.1
The essence of the
soul connects with G‑d’s essence through the study of the teachings
of Kabbalah
These three entities
are each comprised of a pnimiyut (inner dimension) and a chitzoniyut (external
dimension).
The Torah is
comprised of both exoteric teachings (the Talmud, Jewish law, etc.) as well
as esoteric teachings (the Kabbalah).
G‑d’s “revealed”
energy permeates and provides existence to all worlds, but His essence is
completely hidden, transcending all of creation. Similarly, the soul (which is
a reflection of G‑d2) has a revealed element, that level that expresses
itself within and vivifies the body, as well as an essence that transcends the
body.
The double triangle
of the Star of David (Magen David) symbolizes the connection of both dimensions
of G‑d, Torah and Israel: the external level of the soul connects to the
external expression of G‑d via studying the exoteric parts of Torah; the
essence of the soul connects with G‑d’s essence through the study and
application of the teachings of Kabbalah.
The Seven Fields of the Star of David
Kabbalah teaches that
G‑d created the world with seven spiritual building blocks — His seven
“emotional” attributes.
Accordingly, the
entire creation is a reflection of these seven foundational attributes.
They are: chesed (kindness), gevurah (severity), tiferet (harmony), netzach (perseverance), hod (splendor), yesod (foundation)
and malchut (royalty).
These attributes are
divided into three columns: right, center and left:
Gevurah
|
Tiferet
|
Chesed
|
Hod
|
Yosed
|
Netzach
|
Malchut
|
Correspondingly, the
Star of David contains seven compartments — six peaks protruding from a center.
The upper right wing
is chesed.
The upper left wing
is gevurah.
Correspondingly,
the star contains seven compartments — six peaks protruding from a center
The upper center peak
is tiferet.
Kabbalah teaches
that tiferet finds its source in keter, “the
Crown,” which is infinitely higher than all the divine attributes which are
involved in the “mundane” pursuit of creating worlds.
The lower right wing
is netzach.
The lower left wing
is hod.
The center is yesod. Yesod is
“Foundation,” and as such, all the other attributes are rooted in, and rise
from, this attribute.
The star’s bottom
that descends from its belly is malchut — the attribute that
absorbs the energies of the higher six attributes and uses them to actually descend
and create everything — and to “reign” over them.
Be a Star of David
The Star of David is
an important symbol of the Jew and the Jewish people, but it is just that: a
symbol.
Even more important
is to live, think, and behave as a Jew.
Put a mezuzah on your door, study some Torah, eat kosher food,
welcome the Shabbat with candles lighting and
a festive
meal, and you've become a living Star of David.
FOOTNOTES
1. The fact that in a triangle each of the three corners are connect
to the two other ones demonstrates that the Jewish soul is itself knotted to G‑d.
Torah study and observance doesn’t create a connection between
the Jew and G‑d—it merely brings it to light.
Rabbi Naftali Silberberg is a writer, editor and director of the
curriculum department at the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.
Rabbi Silberberg resides in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Chaya Mushka,
and their three children.
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