Shares the symbolism of the ladder as leading to the next world. The harpist is Death. An emblem of King David in the Old Testament, and of Wales, and an attribute of Dagda, the Celtic fire god, who calls up the seasons and whose playing originally brought about the change of the seasons.
[Source: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper]
A poem by the Welsh female poet Gwerful Mechain (Gwerful of Mechain in mid Wales, born about 1462, died 1502) in praise of the vagina, in which she laughs at other poets for never mentioning it in their own eloquent writings in praise of women’s bodies.
The illustrations in this version show (top right) Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, and (bottom left) Bathsheba bathing (with King David watching her in the background).
For Shavuot, I am sharing this sculpture from our collection: Homage to the State of Israel by Oliver O’Connor Barrett (1908-1989), New York, 1958, Walnut. You know that Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah, but did you know it is also the traditional yahrzeit of King David?
Thinking about how in Hebrew, the Star of David is called Magen David, which means Shield of David, because of the legend that it was the symbol on King David’s shield.
Butwho was the real shield in David’s life? The one who would constantly try to protect him from King Shaul and his army, who put his life and honour on the line defending him multiple times?
Yonatan.
The Magen David isYonatan.
Yonatan gave David his weapons when he fell in love with him, but not his shield. Why would that be? Maybe it’s because Yonatan was his shield.
When David sings a surge lamenting the deaths of Shaul and Yonatan, there’s a line that goes as such:
“Behold in Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, or bountiful fields; for there the shield of warriors, the shield of Shaul were rejected, no longer anointed with oil.”
It’s interesting that Yonatan isn’t mentioned in this stanza, but Shaul is.
But upon analysis of the context….David was a poet.
He wouldn’t have to mention a person by name in order to mention them.
What if the “shield of warriors” wasn’t a physical shield, but Yonatan?
David and Shaul were both warriors, Yonatan never was. He gave away his weapons to David, he was skilled with the bow but the only time we see him use it is to send a coded signal to David. Yonatan was called weak by his father for his lack of aggression- he was always the defender and never the offender.
Yonatan is the shield.
Perhaps when we wear our Magen David necklaces, or embroider and carve them into our Judaica, we are wearing a symbol of Yonatan- a man who chose love over war.
