The Menorah: The Oldest Jewish Symbol

In a new book, Steven Fine tells the history of the menorah, which has been part of Jewish iconography since ancient times, not as an object but as a symbol. Jonathan Kirsch writes in his review:

Fine [sets out] to excavate and explain the meanings that have been evoked by the menorah over its long history. Indeed, he acknowledges that the New York Times once referred to him as “the Jewish Robert Langdon,” a reference to the “symbolist” who is the fictional hero of The Da Vinci Code, but he insists that his own work is based on “the close study of texts and artifacts in a real attempt to let these disparate forms ‘speak’ to each other.” . . .

Starting in the 19th century, . . . the seven-branched menorah was displayed in Reform and “neo-Orthodox” synagogues. By the 20th century, the menorah transcended its origins as a ritual object and variously “became a symbol for Jewish emancipation, . . . liberalizing Judaism, and Jewish nationalism—usually (but not always) Zionism—and sometimes for all of these at the same time.”

The superb color photographs in Fine’s book show us artifacts on which the menorah is depicted that are far older than the Arch of Titus [engraved with an image of victorious Roman soldiers carrying a menorah out of the Temple], which dates back to the 1st century CE, and he points out the various passages in the Tanakh where the menorah is richly described. . . .

The menorah may be missing from the flag of Israel, but it appears prominently on the official state seal. . . . Significantly, the vote in the Knesset to adopt the new seal was unanimous, a rarity in Israeli politics then and now.

Read more at Jewish Journal

More about: History & Ideas, Jewish art, Menorah, Zionism

What a Strategic Victory in Gaza Can and Can’t Achieve

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant met in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Gallant says that he told the former that only “a decisive victory will bring this war to an end.” Shay Shabtai tries to outline what exactly this would entail, arguing that the IDF can and must attain a “strategic” victory, as opposed to merely a tactical or operational one. Yet even after a such a victory Israelis can’t expect to start beating their rifles into plowshares:

Strategic victory is the removal of the enemy’s ability to pose a military threat in the operational arena for many years to come. . . . This means the Israeli military will continue to fight guerrilla and terrorist operatives in the Strip alongside extensive activity by a local civilian government with an effective police force and international and regional economic and civil backing. This should lead in the coming years to the stabilization of the Gaza Strip without Hamas control over it.

In such a scenario, it will be possible to ensure relative quiet for a decade or more. However, it will not be possible to ensure quiet beyond that, since the absence of a fundamental change in the situation on the ground is likely to lead to a long-term erosion of security quiet and the re-creation of challenges to Israel. This is what happened in the West Bank after a decade of relative quiet, and in relatively stable Iraq after the withdrawal of the United States at the end of 2011.

Read more at BESA Center

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, IDF