Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption?
-
Lutz Doering
Abstract
With regard to the signification(s) of the Menorah, not enough consideration has been given to different contexts and developing circumstances. While some early Jewish depictions of the Menorah might indicate a relation of the object marked by the Menorah with priests and their families, there are instances in which the Menorah arguably provides a link with the JerusalemJerusalemJerusalemSolomon’s TempleJerusalemSolomon’s TempleSeven-branched candelabrum Temple prior to its destruction, while Jewish authors writing in Greek like PhiloPhilo of Alexandria and JosephusFlavius Josephus focus on the cosmological, astronomical symbolism of the Menorah. A different symbolic value is present when, in the centuries after the Temple destruction, the Menorah (sometimes in multiple specimens) occurs together with other objects like the shofar, the lulav, and the etrog as symbols of Jewish worship. Finally, the Menorah came to indicate a person’s ‘Jewishness’, especially in the context of inscriptions; this should probably be seen in some relation with the parallel rise of the cross as emblem in late antique Christianity. This chapter attempts to chart, and to reflect on, the development of the Menorah as a symbol and emblem in ancient Judaism.
Abstract
With regard to the signification(s) of the Menorah, not enough consideration has been given to different contexts and developing circumstances. While some early Jewish depictions of the Menorah might indicate a relation of the object marked by the Menorah with priests and their families, there are instances in which the Menorah arguably provides a link with the JerusalemJerusalemJerusalemSolomon’s TempleJerusalemSolomon’s TempleSeven-branched candelabrum Temple prior to its destruction, while Jewish authors writing in Greek like PhiloPhilo of Alexandria and JosephusFlavius Josephus focus on the cosmological, astronomical symbolism of the Menorah. A different symbolic value is present when, in the centuries after the Temple destruction, the Menorah (sometimes in multiple specimens) occurs together with other objects like the shofar, the lulav, and the etrog as symbols of Jewish worship. Finally, the Menorah came to indicate a person’s ‘Jewishness’, especially in the context of inscriptions; this should probably be seen in some relation with the parallel rise of the cross as emblem in late antique Christianity. This chapter attempts to chart, and to reflect on, the development of the Menorah as a symbol and emblem in ancient Judaism.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- List of Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
I. Tabernacle and Temple
- Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
- Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
- Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
- Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
- Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
-
II. Image and Exegesis
- tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
- Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
- The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
- “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
-
III. Patronage and Memoria
- Aniane and Fulda 341
- Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
- Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
- Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
-
IV. Context and (Re-)Use
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
- „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
- „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
- Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
- Figures and Charts 653
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- List of Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
I. Tabernacle and Temple
- Das Schicksal des siebenarmigen Leuchters aus dem Jerusalemer Tempel im mittelalterlichen Rom 3
- Priest, Temple, Jewishness, Redemption? 37
- Articulating the geometricalia of Scripture 79
- Vasari and Giambullari on the Menorah, the Tabernacle, and Bezalel 97
- Die Menora in Raffaels Vertreibung des Heliodor und Garofalos Vertreibung der Wechsler aus dem Tempel 143
-
II. Image and Exegesis
- tres gradus fidelium in ecclesia 169
- Jewish and Christian Re-Imagining of the Seven-branched Lampstand in the Postilla litteralis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) 217
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Speculum humanae salvationis 243
- The Sanctuary’s Implements 271
- “A Secret Particularly Obscure” 307
-
III. Patronage and Memoria
- Aniane and Fulda 341
- Seven-branched Candelabra in Medieval England 365
- Marienwohlde oder Mölln? 415
- Siebenarmige Leuchter im 16. Jahrhundert 443
-
IV. Context and (Re-)Use
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter im Heiligtum von Mentorella (Vulturella) in Latium 475
- „Madonna del Albero, dandole tal cognome quella gran pianta“ 503
- Der siebenarmige Leuchter in der Marienkirche in Frankfurt an der Oder 543
- „den store liusestaken af bronz med dess Siu lampor“ 577
- Survivals and Revivals of the Menorah in Medieval and Early Modern European Synagogues 613
- Figures and Charts 653
