Star of David

Magen David in Uganda
Magen David in Uganda picture is courtesy of Richard Sobol who included it in his  book ABAYUDAYA: THE JEWS OF UGANDA 
I saw a nice photo `of a Star of David on Google images and following the link under it I read an interesting article about the Jewish converts that reside in the village of Nabugoya at the foothills of Mount Wanale in central Uganda. They converted to Judaism less than a century ago after their chief, Semei Kakungule, took his revenge on British missionaries after the British broke their promise to give him a kingdom. Before tyrant Idi Amin came into power these converts numbered 3,000 members and had 30 synagogues, but Idi Amin banned Judaism and now there are left only six synagogues with 600 Jewish members.

Banknote magen david
I'm so absorbed in this Star of David blog thing that I start seeing this symbol wherever I go. For example, today I paid in a store with a banknote of 20 NIS and saw a Star of David on it. The banknote carried the Portrait of Moshe Sharett, Israeli foreign minister at the time of Israeli Independence Declaration . At the left side of the banknote I noticed an excerpt from a speech with too-small Hebrew fonts, but I succeeded reading the words "This Magen David".
When I returned home I browsed the Israel Bank website and found that on the Second Series of the New Shekel there's a "See-through: A small triangle printed on either side of the note; the two triangles form a precise Star of David".

grocery magen david-1
grocery magen david-2
In 1824 Dr. John Ayrton invented the Thaumatrope, the invention that initiated the film industry. It was a round paper disc. On one side he drew a bird, on the other a cage, and while the disc was twirled the bird was seen IN the cage.Now we have the twirling Israeli Flag Thaumatrope!It shows half of the Star of David - the other half is in the eyes of the beholder. The idea is that we do not inherit the world with its built-in meanings; it's we who give meanings to the world.
The pictures above show our Twirling Israeli Flag in our neighborhood grocery store. We put it also on the shelves of a few toy and gift shops in Jerusalem

Keith Gormezano wrote a thought provoking poem about the Star of David. In this poem he explores the meaning of the Star of David by listing the main associations he has concerning the number six which constitute the corners of the star:
· Six million Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust

· 666,666 days of exile to six continents

· The six wars of Israel against the neighboring Arab countries

· The calendar approaching the year 6,000

· The expulsion from Spain 600 years ago



P.S.
Right after I posted the above message I sent an Email to Keith Gormezano asking him to let me publish his poem and saying also that:

I'd like to know a little more about the circumstances that lead you to
write this original poem. I read a lot about Stars of David but never heard "Six points/for the six million".

Today, 11 December 2006, I got the folowing letter from him:

I don't really remember how I came up with the idea of six points for the
six million. I think I just though of the irony of the numbers and the way
numbers play a role in Hebrew (chai=18=life). It was at a time in my life
when I was discovering that I had been born a Jew but raised something else.

Happy Channakuh,

Keith Gormezano

So here is the poem:

Star of David

What does it all mean?

My silver Star of David
glows in the darkness;
two triangles superimposed
and opposite one another
(like lovers).

Six points
for the six million
for 666,666 days of exile
to six continents;
for six wars; one still remains to be fought,
613 points of observment
a calendar approaching the year 6,000.

Take my star
separate the lines.
String them all into one thin tightrope
like my ancestors walked in Sefarad
600 years ago.

Recombine the lines into
2 triangles, 2 lovers.
One triangle represents that
all religions lead to G-d.
The other contains Torah, home, and G-d for us.
Yet in mine, if I lack one point,
I have nothing to support

bridge Hexagrams

I took it on the Yarkon river bridge, near Ibn-Gvirol street, in Tel Aviv.