Everyone likes holidays. We just finished celebrating Memorial Day and the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. This week, we marked Flag Day on Tuesday, June 14th. Though not really a holiday, its a very important day. Did you know that there is a Jewish connection to this day? A man named Ben J. Altheimer was a German-Jewish immigrant and is called the Father of Flag Day. There is a debate over whether he was really the first to call it that, but he did play a significant role in convincing the US government to to sponsor Flag Day.
Flags are very important. We often take them for granted, but symbols in general are important. Whether its when you see someone wearing a yarmulke, or a waving a flag, or lighting candles, or singing the Star Spangled Banner. When tears well up in our eyes when we see these things, we realize that these symbols mean a lot to us. It means history. It means identity.
There are also other connections to flags in Jewish tradition. Over 3000 years ago in the wilderness, God asked Moses to establish the camp of Israel according to their flags. Each of the 12 Tribes had their own flag, location, color and symbol. We identify with these symbols. They mean alot to the Jewish people and the American flag has been a very important symbol to the Jews as well.
We hope you had a wonderful flag day and hope you cherish the flag and what it stands for.
To learn more about the Flags of the 12 Tribes, here is a recent post from our http://JewishTreats.org blog.
On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress resolved that: "the flag of the 13 United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: That the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." In celebration of this resolution, June 14 was officially established as Flag Day (as of 1916).
The Tribes of Israel also had flags, but these were more like organizational guides. By Divine order, the Israelites encamped "each person by his flag, according to the insignia of his ancestor's house, at a distance surrounding the Tent of Meeting shall they encamp" (Numbers 2:2). According to the Midrash Rabbah Numbers 2:7, this meant that each tribe had a specific color and emblem:
Reuben - Red flag, with mandrake flowers
Simeon - Green flag, with buildings of the city of Shechem
Levi - Red, white and black flag, with the High Priest's breastplate
Judah - Sky blue flag, with a lion
Issachar - Bluish black flag, with a sun and moon
Zebulun - White flag, with a ship
Dan - Blue flag, with a snake
Naphtali - Deep wine colored flag, with a deer
Gad - Black and white flag, with a tent camp
Asher - Pearlescent colored flag, with an olive tree
Joseph - Black flag, with Egypt depicted upon it (Since this tribe was divided into Joseph's two sons, their flags were similar. However, Ephraim's flag had a bull, while Menasseh's had a wild ox.)
Benjamin - Multicolored flag, with a wolf
*Some flags refer to historical occurrences (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Joseph) while others reflect Jacob's blessings (Judah, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher and Benjamin).
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I've Got a Feeling (The Shabbat Song)by JewishTreats399,039 views
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