Judah
Artist: Maria Stolz

And this is the blessing of Judah, “Hear Lord the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people. Let his hand be sufficient for him and you shall be a help to him from his enemies.” Deu.33:7

Judah, pronounced in Hebrew as “Yehudah,” means “Praise the Lord.”  Using its standard of the lion, recognized universally as a symbol of courage, this tribe became the most powerful and significantly important leader for the House of Israel.  Lions were plentiful in ancient Israel and became extinct in the Middle Ages.  Yet this theme is seen and used as a constant heraldic image on many Judaic artifacts throughout Jewish art history.

Let’s take a look at some of the images in the window…crown, keter…symbol of sovereignty and kingship; David’s harp depicted here as a Biblical archetype and his star; the dove of peace is identified by Kabbalists as royal and having a divine emanation which David shares with the shekhinah, God’s feminine aspect; grapes are among the “seven species” symbolizing the fertility of Israel and are used metaphorically throughout the Torah as images of peace and messianic redemption; of course the Ark of the Covenant, symbol of Solomon.

So in remembering the tribe of Judah, these images remind us of the crown or keter, that the tribe was a progenitor of kings, leading ultimately to kingship and royal sovereignty over the House of Israel.

©Maria Stolz

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

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