שמות 31:17–22
וַיַּ֥עַשׂ אֶת־הַמְּנֹרָ֖ה זָהָ֣ב טָה֑וֹר מִקְשָׁ֞ה עָשָׂ֤ה אֶת־הַמְּנֹרָה֙ יְרֵכָ֣הּ וְקָנָ֔הּ גְּבִיעֶ֛יהָ כַּפְתֹּרֶ֥יהָ וּפְרָחֶ֖יהָ מִמֶּ֥נָּה הָיֽוּ
וְשִׁשָּׁ֣ה קָנִ֔ים יֹצְאִ֖ים מִצִּדֶּ֑יהָ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה ׀ קְנֵ֣י מְנֹרָ֗ה מִצִּדָּהּ֙ הָֽאֶחָ֔ד וּשְׁלֹשָׁה֙ קְנֵ֣י מְנֹרָ֔ה מִצִּדָּ֖הּ הַשֵּׁנִֽי
שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה גְ֠בִעִ֠ים מְֽשֻׁקָּדִ֞ים בַּקָּנֶ֣ה הָאֶחָד֮ כַּפְתֹּ֣ר וָפֶ֒רַח֒ וּשְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה גְבִעִ֗ים מְשֻׁקָּדִ֛ים בְּקָנֶ֥ה אֶחָ֖ד כַּפְתֹּ֣ר וָפָ֑רַח כֵּ֚ן לְשֵׁ֣שֶׁת הַקָּנִ֔ים הַיֹּצְאִ֖ים מִן־הַמְּנֹרָֽה׃
וּבַמְּנֹרָ֖ה אַרְבָּעָ֣ה גְבִעִ֑ים מְשֻׁ֨קָּדִ֔ים כַּפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ וּפְרָחֶֽיהָ׃
וְכַפְתֹּ֡ר תַּ֩חַת֩ שְׁנֵ֨י הַקָּנִ֜ים מִמֶּ֗נָּה וְכַפְתֹּר֙ תַּ֣חַת שְׁנֵ֤י הַקָּנִים֙ מִמֶּ֔נָּה וְכַפְתֹּ֕ר תַּֽחַת־שְׁנֵ֥י הַקָּנִ֖ים מִמֶּ֑נָּה לְשֵׁ֙שֶׁת֙ הַקָּנִ֔ים הַיֹּצְאִ֖ים מִמֶּֽנָּה׃
כַּפְתֹּרֵיהֶ֥ם וּקְנֹתָ֖ם מִמֶּ֣נָּה הָי֑וּ כֻּלָּ֛הּ מִקְשָׁ֥ה אַחַ֖ת זָהָ֥ב טָהֽוֹר׃
And he made the Menorah of pure gold: of beaten work made he the Menorah; its shaft, and its branches, its bowls, its bulbs, and its flowers, were of the same piece: and six branches going out of its sides; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side of it, and three branches of the Menorah out of the other side of it: three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a bulb and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a bulb and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the Menorah. And in the Menorah were four bowls made like almonds, its bulbs, and its flowers: and a bulb under two branches of the same, and a bulb under two branches of the same, and a bulb under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it.. Their bulbs and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold.
The 1948 Search for an Emblem of the State of Israel
Immediately after the establishment of Israel, the Provisional State Council appointed a committee to create its official flag and national emblem. The committee publicized the search in a small newspaper announcement.
Among the few responses included one from the well known graphic designers Valish and Strosky. It featured the Menorah – the oldest Jewish symbol that can be positively identified, and that is first described in this week’s parsha. Their model of the Menorah was based on the one depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome., and the row of seven gold stars is taken from Herzl’s own proposal for a flag. These seven stars symbolized the seven-hour workday that Herzl had envisioned for Jewish workers. In July 1948 the committee rejected Valish and Strosky’s proposal.
“One doesn’t chose a national emblem and flag every day”
Another newspaper notice was published, and this time there was more interest in the challenge. The committee received 131 entries, but only a few have been preserved in the State archives. Here are a some of them.
Graphic artists Gabriel and Maxim Shamir (whose proposal was ultimately selected), submitted a design. It depicted a stylized Menorah in modern form, specifically to break with tradition. Instead of curves there were six right angles rather than curves, and the heavy base was replaced with a tiny unsteady one, in an intentional dissociation from the traditional Jewish symbol.
In December 1948 the committee felt the Shamirs had the most promising design, but they wanted several changes, like adding the word “Israel” underneath. A month later, at the seventh meeting of the committee, they reevaluated the modern design they had requested. Being a committee, they changed their minds again, and asked that the Menorah on the Arch of Titus be used - the same Menorah that had been depicted on the earlier design of Valish and Storsky. Why? According to Professor Alec Meroshi, of the Open University in Israel, it was because of the symbolism:
“It was a visual metaphor for a concept that was popular at the time…just as the fall of the Jewish state in 70 CE found visual expression in the relief depicting Titus’ triumphal procession on the arch…so would the rebirth of the Jewish state and the termination of exile be symbolized by the return of the menorah to its homeland, if not to the Temple, then to the state of Israel that had just been established. The menorah was being removed from the arch, where it served as a symbol of defeat and degradation, and placed on the most honored spot of all – in the emblem of the State of Israel ” .
After some further minor revisions, the proposal was unanimously accepted on February 10th, 1949. The following day the provisional government published its “Proclamation of the Emblem of the State of Israel.”
Some of those first Israelis interpreted the design as as a victory for secular, socialist and democratic values over religious ones. But the combination of the Menorah and olive branches in the Shamir design actually had graphic precedents – from the vision of the prophet Zechariah, which is read on Shabbat Channukah and Pa’arshat Beha’alotecha:
זכריה ד
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י מָ֥ה אַתָּ֖ה רֹאֶ֑ה וָאֹמַ֡ר רָאִ֣יתִי ׀ וְהִנֵּ֣ה מְנוֹרַת֩ זָהָ֨ב כֻּלָּ֜הּ וְגֻלָּ֣הּ עַל־רֹאשָׁ֗הּ וְשִׁבְעָ֤ה נֵרֹתֶ֙יהָ֙ עָלֶ֔יהָ שִׁבְעָ֤ה וְשִׁבְעָה֙ מֽוּצָק֔וֹת לַנֵּר֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־רֹאשָֽׁהּ׃ וּשְׁנַ֥יִם זֵיתִ֖ים עָלֶ֑יהָ אֶחָד֙ מִימִ֣ין הַגֻּלָּ֔ה וְאֶחָ֖ד עַל־שְׂמֹאלָֽהּ׃
And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a menorah all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and seven lamps to it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which were upon the top of it: and there are two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side of it.
Zechriah had seen the Menorah in the Second Temple which was completed in 521 C.E. This was apparently the same Menorah that was captured some 500 years later by Titus and carried off to Rome. And so the emblem of the State of Israel may well replicate the actual Menorah in the Bet Hamikdash, one that in turn is based on the description in this weeks’ parsha.
We don’t like it
Public reaction to the new emblem was swift and extreme; it was criticized by both the religious and the secular. On February 13, 1948, the very next day after the winning emblem had been announced, Gershon Schoken, editor of Haaretz wrote:
This proposal…is nothing but a horror from an aesthetic viewpoint…the execution is so vulgar and amateurish that no self-respecting commercial firm would even consider selecting it as its trademark…
Israel’s Chief Rabbi, Yitchak Halevi Herzog (and the grandfather of the current President of the State if Israel) was also annoyed.
What our government has done today is wrong…it has copied the depiction of the Menorah on the Arch of Titus, which was apparently the work of foreigners, and is not entirely in accordance with the sacred prescriptions…
It might be surprising to learn that the Emblem of Israel was initially controversial, but great decisions require compromise and understanding. What better message could there be for the State of Israel today?
