Today we're going to be giving a little bit of history and insight into the star of David's symbol. It's known in Hebrew as the Mugging David, which literally means the shield of David. The truth is that the interlocking symmetrical triangle was a common symbol in the east, in the ancient worlds. The hexagram also was very common in Shinto belief in Japan and an astrological figure in Persia. The history of the star of David itself, nobody's really quite sure where it originated or how it became like such a prominent identifiable symbol with Judaism. The earliest archaeological source is an ancient synagogue in northern Israel that dates to the 6th century BCE. The carving that's on the synagogue depicts a victorious Babylonian king and a defeated king of Judah with a 6th-pointed star above his head. Other examples are from history. There's a 2,000-year-old star of David carved on a stone in a synagogue in Pekin. There's a 6th-pointed star in the ancient Mosaic floor in Aeol and the Farsura synagogue in Rochpina in the Upper Galilee. There is a coastal city in southern Italy that has a Jewish tombstone with a star of David on it that dates from the 3rd century. Some take this idea of the shield of David literally thinking that it was a symbol that was on the shields of David's army. Svi Elimelech Shapirov Dinov says that there was actually a minura on the shields of David's army. The Akatus Yitzhak said that Psalm 67, which is written sometimes in the shape of a minura, you'll see in some sardic prayer books, this as well, that that was what was written on King David's shields. Perhaps there is a connection between the seven branches of the minura and the 6th points of the star with that center space as well. Could be a likely connection between those as well. The Talmud, the Gimmarin Gytin, says that King Solomon had a seal that was used to control demons. Now although the Talmud says that this seal was a name of God, various oral traditions teach that it was either a five or six pointed star. From these traditions come many amulets that incorporate either a five pointed or a six pointed star to protect from malevolent forces. Unfortunately, many occult groups throughout the ages and until today use these stars, either the five pointed seal of Solomon or the six pointed shield of David in their magic practices. Judaism is clearly opposed to any of that. So again, some people suggest that King Solomon and his seal are the are the source for the star of David or for this being a Jewish symbol. It has little support for there's little support for this theory but it is such an idea. The Samaritans have a tradition that a six pointed star represents the six cities of refuge. The Samaritans were a group that broke off from the early Hebrews. They have a tradition that the six pointed star represents the six cities of refuge. It may be that the armor during the Barcauch Barabellian was engraved with a star of David after all the word Barcauch but means the son of the star. There's legends that the star was on the battle gear of the Macbees as well. As time continued, the symbol became more prevalent. We see it on the Leningrad Codex which is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible which dates to around a thousand CE. In the 14th century there were Hebrew Bibles from Spain that had this star of David printed on it. In Safar Agvul, a 13th century capitalistic work by Rabbi Dove Ben Yuhudah Hassid. He was the first one to unite this symbol of a six pointed star with the words Maghain Doveid, the Shield of David, that hexagram shaped star that we identify with. During this period throughout the Middle Ages it was interchangeable. A five-point star, six-pointed star, and then eventually became designated as time continued. One, the five-pointed star being the Shield of Solomon, the star of Solomon, or the the Sinos Solomon, the Seal of Solomon, and the six-pointed shield of David. In the 1400s the Jews of Prague chose to display the six-pointed star on their communal flag. Likewise this was done with the Jews in Budapest. In the 1600s the Jews of Vienna incorporated it as their communal seal as well. In the 1800s the symbol spread to Jewish communities throughout the world. And what put it over the top was when it was adopted as a symbol of Zionism by the Second Zionist Congress in 1898. Some of the symbolism that has been associated with it through various sources, the Erutsahai Montilum, says that there's an illusion to Jewish kings using this banner that the ancient Jewish kings would use a banner that had a similar symbol on it. A six-pointed star was in ancient times a representation of royalty, a represented royalty. Another idea that's brought up about what's what the significance of the Shield of David, the star of David is, is that it may be a reminder of God's dominion over the entire world in all six directions, up down right, left, forward, and back. Jewish mysticism, the mystics, say that the two triangles represent the physical and the spiritual world, like almost as after two arrows, one pointing up, one pointing down, and it's the merge of the physical and spiritual, as well as the relationship between God and mankind. And it's interesting, for take it or leave it, which is an interesting fact, that all of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet can be formed using the lines of this star. So again, the star of David has a long history of loose association with Judaism, and as time progressed, it's prominence as a Jewish symbol, and only as a Jewish symbol grew. I believe that the ambiguity of the star of David's origin, and the fact that we're not really sure 100%, how it became a part of Judaism, is because why the ambiguity? Because Torah has always been the symbol of the Jewish people. We need a banner or symbol or a flag or all the other things that all the other nations of the world have. We have a symbol. Torah is what represents us. Many people, other faiths, other nations, whatever, they tend to need or desire something that symbolizes them, what they represent, what they need, and have to craft either some sort of symbol or imagery. Jews have Torah. Torah is what we live on. Torah is what makes our heartbeat, what makes our blood flow. So if a Jew really wants to connect with the ultimate Jewish symbol, should embrace a little bit more Torah.