Dan
Artist: Maria Stolz

"Dan is a lion’s whelp that leaps from Bashan.” Deu. 33:22

As illustrated by their standard of the serpent and scales, Dan is the tribe of judgment, determination, and directing truth and power of the Jewish people. In Jacob’s blessing, Dan is likened to the snake who bites the horse’s hind (note in glass) and has cunning methods to overcome his enemy.

The throne refers to the “throne of judgement and the throne of mercy;” kabbalists also identify the throne as a feminine aspect of God, or the shekhinah. The bush of moriah (a kind of sage plant) has 365 leaves connoting the positive commandments that are required of a Jewish person, and also represents the tree of life out of which rises a lion cub whose right paw is the hand of justice, holding the sword of war, but also serving as the beam for the scales of judgment. The depiction of the shofar (lead lines) for Rosh Hashana centers upon the theme of judgment highlighted in the liturgy as a metaphor of human deeds weighed by God, that is…the fate of the earth and its people “hangs in the balance.”

The most famous Danite was Samson (jawbone of ass) and the broken pillars. Returning to the image of the snake…one commentary relates to the observation that the snake moves through life without a mate.  So too, did Samson, deceived by his mate Delilah, who was able to defeat the Philistines single handedly.

©Maria Stolz

Reuben | Simeon | Levi | Judah | Dan | Naphtali | Gad | Asher | Issachar | Zebulun | Joseph | Benjamin

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