Dove of Shalom: Sterling Silver 925 with 24KT Gold plated Dove

Dove of Shalom: Sterling Silver 925 with 24KT Gold plated Dove - Hebrew In inscription: Zachariah 4:6 "Not with an Army, not through strength but through My Spirit ...
 Lo B'chayil V'Lo B'Kho'ah Ki im B'ru'ach"

Pendant: 1 1/4" x 1 1/2"
Chain included: Sterling Silver 20" Cable Chain

4:6 Just as the Olive trees in the vision produce oil because that is what G-d created them to do, so Israel will rebuild the Temple because that is what G-d wanted. They did not succeed because of their Army or their strength, but because G-d inspired Darilus with a spirit of kindness that provided the initiative for the construction and a major part of the needed supplies (Rashi)

Jewish Jewelry

14Kt Gold Dreidel Pendant - Made in Israel - Jewish Jewelry

14Kt Gold Dreidel Pendant - Made in Israel - Jewish Jewelry

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Chai Pendant - Wishbone Design

Chai Pendant - Wishbone Design

Chai - Hebrew Letters Chet and Yud - Chai translated meaning Life.

Chai Pendant has a "Wishbone" design - with a petite Israeli Diamond. The forked furcula bone which lies between the breast and neck of a chicken, or other fowl, is popularly called the wishbone or Merry thought-the latter being the much older term-named after the custom which has incorporated it since at least the 17th century. Two people take hold of either side of the bone, some insist they must use their little fingers only, and pull until it breaks. Whoever gets the largest piece can make a wish which, if not told to anyone, will come true. Nowadays mainly done by children, the custom is first described by John Aubrey in 1686, although the word 'Merry thought' appears in earlier 17th-century contexts.

For best deal: Chai Pendant - Wishbone Design

Breast Plate of the High Priest

—Biblical Data:

A species of pouch, adorned with precious stones, worn by the high priest on his breast when he presented in the Holy Place the names of the children of Israel. The etymological significance of the Hebrew word is uncertain, but the directions for the making of the breastplate, in Ex. xxviii. 13-30 and xxxix. 8-21, are sufficiently clear.

This breast piece was to be made in part of the same material as the Ephod. The directions specify that it was to be made "of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen" (Ex. xxviii. 15). "Foursquare it shall be, being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof" (ib. xxviii. 16); thus before it was doubled it was a cubit long and a half-cubit wide. On the front face of this square were set, in four rows, twelve precious stones, on each of which was engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. These jewels in gold settings were (Ex. xxviii. 17-19): in the first row, "a sardius [margin, "ruby"], a topaz, and a carbuncle [margin, "emerald"]"; in the second row, "an emerald [margin, "carbuncle"], a sapphire, and a diamond [margin, "sardonyx"]"; in the third row, "a jacinth [R. V.: margin, "amber"], an agate, and an amethyst"; and in the fourth row, "a beryl [margin, "chalcedony"], and an onyx [margin, "beryl"], and a jasper." The exact identification and the order of these stones, as well as the tribe represented by each, are matters of speculation. The breastplate was worn over and fastened to the ephod. It hung over the breast of the wearer, and was secured to the shoulders of the ephod by gold cords (or chains). These cords of "wreathen work," tied in the gold rings at the top corners of the outer square of the breastplate, were fastened to ouches on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod. The lower part of the breastplate was fastened to the ephod at some point below the shoulders by a blue ribbon, which passed through gold rings at the lower corners of the inner square. As well as being a means of securing in its place this most important portion of the dress of the high priest, these fastenings formed a brilliant decoration. The term "breastplate of judgment" (Ex. xxviii. 15, 29, 30) indicates that the name was given to this portion of the priestly dress because of its use in connection with the mysterious Urim and Thummim.
(see image) Breastplate of the High Priest.

Bibliography:Commentaries on Exodus;
Neumann, Die Stiftshütte, 1861, pp. 150-159;
Ewald, Antiquities, p. 390;
Nowack, Archäologie, ii. 119.J. Jr.I. M. P.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

The Rabbis explain that the breastplate of the high priest is called in Scripture ("breastplate of judgment") because it was intended to work atonement for errors in pronouncing judgment (Zeb. 88b; Yer. Yoma vii.44b; compare also Targ. Yer. to Ex. xxviii. 15; Philo and the Septuagint have instead of the Greek λόγιον or λνγεimacr;ον, which example Rashi follows in the passage to Ex. l.c., translating by "raisonnement"; similarly also Tobiah b. Eliezer, in Leḳaḥ Ṭob on the passage). Aaron and his successors wore the breastplate on the heart (Ex. xxviii. 29) as a reward, because Aaron was "glad in his heart" (Ex. iv. 14) when Moses returned to Egypt, and was not envious because his younger brother was chosen by God to deliver Israel (Shab. 139a; Ex. R. iii., end).

According to the Talmud, the breastplate was made of the same material as the ephod and in the following manner: The gold was beaten into a leaf and cut into threads; then one golden thread was woven with six azure () threads, and another golden thread with six purple () threads, and similarly with the scarlet wool () and the byssus. Thus there were four combinations of six-fold threads, with one golden thread woven through each; and, when these were twisted together the strand consisted of twenty-eight threads (Yoma 71b). The breastplate was fastened to the ouches () of the ephod by means of threads of woven gold, passed through rings attached to the right and left of the upper part of the ephod. Furthermore, two rings were attached to the lower ends of the breastplate, from which azure cords passed through two rings at the lower points of the two shoulder-bands of the ephod, where they joined the girdle; so that the lower part of the breastplate was connected with the girdle of the ephod, and could neither slide up nor down, nor be detached (Rashi to Ex. xxviii. 6, in many editions also at the end of Ex.; Maimonides, "Yad," Kele ha-Miḳdash, ix. 6-9).

The Stones of the Breastplate.

The twelve precious stones with which the breastplate was decorated contained the names of the twelve tribes; each name being fully engraved on one stone, in order that, when the high priest came before Him, God might be mindful of the piety of the patriarchs (Ex. R. xxxviii. 8; Lev. R. xxi. 6). No chisel was to touch the stones, nor was it permitted to mark the names of the twelve patriarchs on the stones by means of paint or ink. The engraving was done by means of the Shamir, which was placed on the stone, and had the marvelous power of cutting it along the lines of the letters of the proper names, which were first traced with ink (Soṭah 48b). In addition to the names of the twelve tribes, the stones also contained, at the head, the names Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and at the end the words: "[all these are] the tribes of Jeshurun" (Yoma 73b, where the first two words are not found, while Yer. Yoma vii., end, 44c has them, and also instead of ; Maimonides, l.c. 7, seems to have used a source differing both from Bab. and Yer., as his version has the words ="tribes of God"). These words could not be omitted from the breastplate, since the whole Hebrew alphabet had to be included, in order that, on consulting the Urim and Thummim, the high priest might be enabled to form words from the different colors of the individual letters on the stones of the breastplate, and hence might be able to answer questions put to him (Yoma, l.c.).

Order of the Names on the Stones.

Even in early times there were various opinions on the order of the names of the twelve patriarchs on the stones; and Baraitas existed that discussed the matter. The latter, however, have evidently been lost; for the opinions therein contained are known only through quotations found in the early authors. A Baraita, quoted by Tobias b. Eliezer in his work "Leḳaḥ Ṭob" on Ex. xxviii. 10, says that the order corresponded to that given in Ex. i. 2-4, except that Zebulun was followed by Dan, not by Benjamin, and that the last two names were Joseph and Benjamin (compare Soṭah 36a, b). This corresponds in part with the order in Num. R. ii. 7, except that there Gad precedes Naphtali; while Ex. R. xxxviii. 8 and Targ. on Cant. v. 14 correspond with the above-mentioned Baraita. According to the Targ. Yer. on Num. ii. 2 et seq., however, the names on the stones of the breastplate followed in the same sequence as that observed by the tribes when marching in the wilderness (Num. ii. 2-21). Targ. Yer. on Ex. xxviii. 17 et seq. agrees with Josephus ("Ant." iii. 7, § 5) in saying that the names of the twelve patriarchs followed in the sequence of their ages, while Maimonides (l.c.) and Tobias b. Eliezer (l.c.) assert that the names of the patriarchs were engraved on the first stone and the words on the last, Baḥya b. Asher and Hezekiah b. Manoah say, in their commentaries on Ex. l.c., that each stone contained only six letters, selected from the name of the respective tribal-patriarch, together with one or more letters of the names of the three national patriarchs or of the words . Hence the letters on the whole of the stones numbered seventy-two, corresponding with the number of letters in the Shem ha-Meforash. Compare Ephod,Gems, and Urim and Thummim.

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Ring as Symbol of Marriage by Purchase

Ring as Symbol of Marriage by Purchase.

Finger-rings, like rings for the ears and the nose, were used as ornaments by the Jews as early as the Biblical period (Ex. xxxv. 22, etc.), while seal-rings (Gen. xxxviii. 18, 25, etc.) and rings as signs of the highest dignity were likewise known at that time (ib. xli. 42, etc.). Neither the Bible nor the Talmud, however, speaks of the ring as symbolic of marriage. In the Talmudic period the formalities of betrothal, which ceremony was regarded as the beginning of marriage, resembled those of the first part of the modern engagement, the bridegroom giving the bride money, some article of value, or a document, saying at the time: "Be thou hallowed unto me through. . . ." About the seventh or eighth century, however, when two of the three mishnaic methods of obtaining a wife had become obsolete, the use of a ring as a symbol of marriage began to be frequent, probably earlier in Palestine than in Babylonia on account of the Roman influence exerted in the former. The betrothal was then differentiated from the wedding; and the ceremonies constituting marriage, which had hitherto been performed at two different times, were now celebrated on the wedding-day, some time after the betrothal. The chief ceremony of marriage was the placing by the bridegroom of a ring on the middle finger of the right hand of the bride, the accompanying invocation being "Be thou hallowed [betrothed] to me through this ring, according to the laws of Moses and Israel." The fact that the Jews (like the Romans) did not exchange rings, and that one was given only by the bridegroom to the bride, is explained by the circumstance that the ring was used as a symbol for the marriage by purchase, which was doubtless once customary among all races.

The wedding-ring, according to R. Tam, was a simple golden circlet without stones, although rings of silver or of cheaper metal were permissible if the bride was informed of the fact. In sporadic instances, however, mention is made of a wedding-ring of gold with pearls and even of one with false stones (Vogelstein and Rieger, "Gesch. der Juden in Rom," ii. 304 et seq.). Jewish women were not in the habit of wearing their wedding-rings, most of which were of an enormous size, while a few were unusually small (see fig. 1); in either case the size, as well as the ornamentation, which was usually very prominent, prevented them from being worn. The rings even served occasionally as bouquet-holders, myrtle-branches being inserted in them at weddings. (see image) So-Called Coin of Solomon.

Examples of Wedding-Rings.

(see image) Jewish Rings.1, 5, 10-13, 15-18, 20-25, 28, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 2-4, 6-9, 26, 27, in the collection of Albert Wolf, Dresden. 14, from Rücklin, "Schmuckbuch." 19, from Luthmer, "Gold und Silber."

A large number of such wedding-rings have been preserved ("Cat. Anglo-Jew. Hist. Exh." Nos. 1822-1831, 1949-1963), although only a very few are older than the sixteenth century, and not one can be assigned to a date earlier than the thirteenth century. In the earliest examples the hoop is frequently formed of two cherubim and is crowned by a model of the Temple at Jerusalem, resembling that on the forged coin of Solomon (see fig. above). In other cases this representation assumes rather the shape of a synagogue with a small tower (see figs. 6, 9, 14, 19), on which sometimes is perched a weathercock. Others, again, display only a hoop more or less richly decorated with rosettes, lion-heads, and the like (see figs. 1, 8, 12, 22), occasionally, however, bearing a small shield at the top. Especially costly specimens show a party-colored enamel decoration. The rings bear; almost without exception, an inscription, either engraved or in relief, around the hoop (see fig. 24), reading (see fig. 6) on the earliest specimens, but on the later ones or , an expression of felicitation which did not come into use until the fifteenth century (Berliner, "Aus dem Leben der Deutschen Juden im Mittelalter," p. 49). Most of these wedding-rings were made at Venice (Rücklin, "Schmuckbuch") and hence were probably produced by Jews, since, according to Lecky ("Rationalism in Europe," ii. 237, note 2), many of the Venetian goldsmiths who practised the art of carving were of that race.

Although Jewish women might not adorn themselves with their wedding-rings, they were recompensed on the Purim following the marriage, when their friends presented them with rings, clothes, and money; and, according to Leon of Modena, it occasionally happened that later in the marriage ceremony itself the bridegroom put a ring on the bride's finger, while he pronounced a formula of betrothal. The bridegroom frequently received gifts also; and in Germany it was customary for the prospective father-in-law to present him with a ring shortly before the wedding.

Other Rings.

Other specifically Jewish rings are those intended for seals, which represent the seven-branched candle-stick engraved in stone and which bear the inscription . These rings, which were to remind the women of one of their chief duties, the lighting of the Sabbath lamps, were in use early in the Middle Ages, as is shown by the fact that such a ring was found in Mecklenburg together with Anglo-Saxon coins and Arabic dirhems (Donath, "Gesch. der Juden in Mecklenburg," p. 78). In Poland, where the Christian inhabitants laid great stress on the wearing of rings, it was not until the reign of Sigismund Augustus (1506-48) that the Jews, after long debates in the Reichstag, were allowed to wear such adornments. These had to be inscribed with the words "Sabbation" or "Jerusalem," which, according to Lelewel, was intended to remind the Jews of the wrath of God and of the punishment for their sins (Sternberg, "Gesch. der Juden in Polen," p. 146).

At a later period rings bearing the name of God were used as amulets. When a fondness for wearing rings became too pronounced, the rabbis or congregations interfered. Thus, for example, the rabbinical convention at Bologna in 1416 decreed that no man might wear more than one and no woman more than three rings (Vogelstein and Rieger, l.c. i. 337), while the Frankfort sumptuary regulation of 1715 enacted that "young girls may wear no rings whatever" (Schudt, "Jüdische Merckwürdigkeiten," iv. 3, 99).

Jewelry

jewelry

Objects designed for the adornment of the body, usually made of gold, silver, or platinum, often with precious or semiprecious stones and such organic substances as pearls, coral, and amber. Jewelry evolved from shells, animal teeth, and other objects used as adornment in prehistoric times. Over the centuries it came to be a sign of social or religious rank. In Renaissance Italy, jewelry making reached the status of a fine art; many Italian sculptors trained as goldsmiths. From the 17th century the decorative function of jewelry again came to the fore, overshadowing its symbolic significance. By the 19th century, industrialization brought jewelry within the reach of the middle class.