HIGH RES

maximilianofmexico:

Self Belt
Certain students confirmly display their love for their religion in creative ways such as this belt of the Star of David

my high school yearbook

self reblogue

HIGH RES

lazersilberstein:

genki-naru:

lazersilberstein:

genki-naru:

It really bothers me that the Mogen David is the emblem for both Judaism and Zionism. There is such a huge difference.

um neither of these things have official symbols

Um do a little research. Zionism is a political movement. Political movements gain momentum by establishing symbols.Of course they have an official symbol. And so the Israeli flag was recognized as the official symbol of Zionism long before the state of Israel became a reality. It’s based on the Tallit and has a Mogen David in the middle. I had a heavily Zionist religious education and had this hammered into me growing up.

And while the star of David was never adopted by an official body of rabbis, the sign has clearly been associated with Jews. My Jewish family gave me dozens of necklaces with the star of David on it, and not a small number of bracelets. While synagogues won’t necessarily have the star topping off some spire as in the case of churches, most have it somehow incorporated into their architecture.

The post you incorrectly critiqued was a response to this political cartoon, which used the star of David as a symbol of Zionists/Israel but also implied through its use that all Jews were Zionist.

So what exactly bothers you? that Jews use the symbol for a (Jewish) politics and as a religious symbol? or that non-Jews think they’re completely interchangeable? 

this is silly, lazer. yer doin the same ol’ academic nitpicking and semantics games (which, honestly, i enjoy most of the time) but the point remains. obviously the issue is that non-jews think they’re interchangeable, though MANY less knowledgeable jews, or those with zionist upbringings think so too. there’s reason to be bothered by this.

i haven’t done the research and it’s just a feeling but it’d seem to me that jewish establishments like the one genki-naru grew up within not only pushed the star as a zionist symbol but also pushed it as a JEWISH symbol (i’ve seen you talk before on how the star of david wasn’t always so heavily used as other symbols in judaism) to further encourage the entanglement and association of the jewish people, religion, and the zionist movement in the public eye. i know that i, myself,  grew up in very zionist institutions and was always encouraged to don the star of david as a symbol of my jewishness. also saw it on every israeli flag and piece of zionist letterhead or whatever. and now that i’m more skeptical and removed from zionism and the state of israel, more aware of how people outside of that upbringing see things, and even because of my own conditioned association, i feel a lot less comfortable with the star of david as an expression of my jewishness. which i guess is unfortunate depending upon how much importance you decide to place on the star of david as a jew.

but, you know, regardless of the intention, the effect remains the same and it’s a valid thing to be irked by if yer a jew and not a zionist

HIGH RES

Self Belt
Certain students confirmly display their love for their religion in creative ways such as this belt of the Star of David

my high school yearbook