The ADL publishes lists of symbols used by anti-semitic groups. [14] Included in these publications are several pagan symbols that were used by the Nazis and neo-Nazi groups, but are also today used by non-racist pagan religions. Members of the neopagan religion Ásatrú protested that these symbols were wrongly used by hate groups, and should not be described as symbols of racism. Following an organized e-mail protest by Ásatrúar, the ADL clarified that these symbols are not necessarily racist. It has since amended its public ...

See also:

Anti-Defamation League, Anti-Defamation League - History, Anti-Defamation League - Fighting anti-Semitism bigotry and racism, Anti-Defamation League - Fighting anti-Zionism, Anti-Defamation League - Other positions, Anti-Defamation League - Relations with Arabs and Muslims, Anti-Defamation League - Relations with Blacks, Anti-Defamation League - Criticism of reporting on pagan symbols, Anti-Defamation League - The ADL files controversy

Read more here: » Anti-Defamation League: Encyclopedia II - Anti-Defamation League - Criticism of reporting on pagan symbols

Store-bought foods can be identified as kosher by the presence of a hechsher (plural hechsherim), a graphical symbol that indicates that the food has been certified as kosher by a rabbinical authority. (This might be an individual rabbi, but is more often a rabbinic organization.) The most common symbol is the "OU", a U inside a circle (Ⓤ), standing for the Union of Orthodox Congregations. Many rabbis and organizations, however, have their own certification mark, and the other symbols are too numerous to list. The hechsher ...

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Kashrut, Kashrut - Types of foods, Kashrut - Identification of kosher foods, Kashrut - Reasons for the Biblical dietary laws, Kashrut - Ritual purity and holiness, Kashrut - Symbolic purpose, Kashrut - Maintenance of a separate culture, Kashrut - Hygiene, Kashrut - Other reasons, Kashrut - U.S. Laws regarding use of word Kosher, Kashrut - How kashrut is viewed by Judaism today, Kashrut - Vegetarianism, Kashrut - Kashrut and animal welfare, Kashrut - Kashrut and Islam, Kashrut - Notes

Read more here: » Kashrut: Encyclopedia II - Kashrut - Identification of kosher foods

Reference: Ajax and the Jewish issue Ajax has the very remarkable tradition of using Jewish and Israeli symbols to express their allegiance. Regularly, the supporters wave large Star of David flags and scream Joden! Joden! ("Jews! Jews!") to fire up their team. There is apparently no clear explanantion for this phenomenon, and there is also no connection to any religious or ethnic matter. The problem is that in an increasingly bizarre way, opposing supporters use anti-semitism to express their antipathy towards Aj ...

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Ajax Amsterdam, Ajax Amsterdam - History, Ajax Amsterdam - Stadium, Ajax Amsterdam - Jewish influence, Ajax Amsterdam - Honours, Ajax Amsterdam - Current squad, Ajax Amsterdam - Famous players who once played for Ajax

Read more here: » Ajax Amsterdam: Encyclopedia II - Ajax Amsterdam - Jewish influence

The Star of David can be found on the tombstones of religious Jews going back hundreds of years in Europe, as it became accepted as the universal symbol of the Jewish people. Following Jewish emancipation after the French revolution, Jewish communities chose the Star of David to represent themselves, comparable to the cross used by most Christians. Some Orthodox Jewish groups reject the use of the hexagram because of its association with "magic" and the "occult". Some Haredi groups, such as Neturei Karta, reje ...

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Star of David, Star of David - Origin, Star of David - Shape, Star of David - Shield form, Star of David - Shield with stars, Star of David - Used by Jews, Star of David - Used by Arabs and Muslims, Star of David - Used by the Nazis, Star of David - Other uses, Star of David - Heraldry, Star of David - Red Magen David, Star of David - Occurrence in Eastern Religions, Star of David - Theosophy, Star of David - Zion Christian Church, Star of David - Latter-day Saints Mormons, Star of David - Raelism, Star of David - Notes, Star of David - Footnotes

Read more here: » Star of David: Encyclopedia II - Star of David - Used by Jews

Tau (Hebrew, Jewish). That which has now become the square Hebrew letter tau, but was ages before the invention of the Jewish alphabet, the Egyptian handled cross, the crux ansata of the Latins, and identical with the Egyptian ankh.

This mark belonged exclusively, and still belongs, to the Adepts of every country. As Kenneth R. F. Mackenzie shows, "It was a symbol of salvation and consecration, and as such has been adopted as a Masonic symbol in the Royal Arch Degree ". It is also called the astronomical cross, and was used by the ancient Mexicans - as its presence on one of the palaces at Palenque shows - as well as by the Hindus, who placed the tau as a mark on the brows of their Chelas.

(See also: Tau, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Karnaim (Hebrew, Jewish). Horned, an attribute of Ashtoreth and Astarte; those horns typify the male element, and convert the deity into an androgyne. Isis also is at times horned. Compare also the idea of the Crescent Moon - -symbol of Isis - as horned.

(See also: Karnaim, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Hay-yoth ha Qadosh (Hebrew, Jewish) The holy living creatures of Ezekiel’s vision of the Merkabah, or vehicle, or chariot. These are the four symbolical beasts, the cherubim of Ezekiel, and in the Zodiac Taurus, Leo, Scorpio (or the Eagle), and Aquarius, the man.

(See also: Hay-yoth ha Qadosh, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Boaz (Hebrew, Jewish). The great-grandfather of David. The word is from B, meaning "in", and oz "strength", a symbolic name of one of the pillars at the porch of King Solomon’s temple. [w. w. w.]

(See also: Boaz, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

The ADL has not often worked together with Arab-American and American Muslim civil rights groups, owing to disagreement concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, the ADL has on numerous occasions reached out to elements within the Islamic community and works to improve interfaith dialogue. The ADL has publicly condemned slurs and attacks against Islam. ADL publications on condemning bigotry towards Arabs, Muslims, blacks and members of other minorities have often been used in synagogue adult education progra ...

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Anti-Defamation League, Anti-Defamation League - History, Anti-Defamation League - Fighting anti-Semitism bigotry and racism, Anti-Defamation League - Fighting anti-Zionism, Anti-Defamation League - Other positions, Anti-Defamation League - Relations with Arabs and Muslims, Anti-Defamation League - Relations with Blacks, Anti-Defamation League - Criticism of reporting on pagan symbols, Anti-Defamation League - The ADL files controversy

Read more here: » Anti-Defamation League: Encyclopedia II - Anti-Defamation League - Relations with Arabs and Muslims

Many Neopagans, especially Wiccans, use the pentagram as a symbol of faith similar to the Christian cross or the Jewish Star of David. (It is not, however, a universal symbol for Neopaganism, and is rarely used by Reconstructionists.) Its religious symbolism is commonly explained by reference to the neo-Pythagorean understanding that the five vertices of the pentagram represent the four elements with the addition of Spirit as the uppermost point. In its representation of the elements, the pentagram is tied to the widespread Wiccan practice o ...

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Pentagram, Pentagram - Geometry, Pentagram - Some relevant trigonometric values, Pentagram - History, Pentagram - Pythagorean use, Pentagram - Christian use, Pentagram - Satanic use, Pentagram - Neopagan Use, Pentagram - Brigate Rosse, Pentagram - Flags, Pentagram - In literature, Pentagram - 3D

Read more here: » Pentagram: Encyclopedia II - Pentagram - Neopagan Use

Yakin and Boaz (Hebrew, Jewish). A Kabbalistic and Masonic symbol. The two pillars of bronze (Yakin, male and white; Boaz, female and red), cast by Hiram Abif of Tyre, called "the Widow’s Son , for Solomon’s supposed (Masonic) Temple. Yakin was the symbol of Wisdom (Chokmah), the second Sephira; and Boaz, that of Intelligence (Binah); the temple between the two being regarded as Kether, the crown, Father- Mother.

(See also: Yakin and Boaz, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

STAR OF DAVID: this well known Jewish symbol, represents the united male & female. Consisting of 2 triangles, the one pointing up is the 'male' & the downward pointing one, represents the 'female'; thus overlapping to form the 'Star', it represents ELOHIM (God).

(See also: STAR OF DAVID, Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

According to Orthodox Judaism, the Sabbatical year is still in force in modern-day Israel, and the seven year cycle has not been lost. The time of the occurrence of the Jubilee Year though may be in doubt. According to Jewish law, observance of the Sabbatical year is of high accord, and one who does not do so may not be allowed to be a witness in a Jewish court. Since it is allowed for Jews to farm fields owned by non-Jews during the Sabbatical, it has become customary to sell all fields in Israel to a loyal non-Jew for the symbolic p ...

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Sabbatical year Bible, Sabbatical year Bible - Biblical sources and citations, Sabbatical year Bible - Descriptions of observances, Sabbatical year Bible - Modern observance in Israel

Read more here: » Sabbatical year Bible: Encyclopedia II - Sabbatical year Bible - Modern observance in Israel

Linga or Lingam (Sanskrit). A sign or a symbol of abstract creation. Force becomes the organ of procreation only on this earth. In India there are 12 great Lingams of Siva, some of which are on mountains and rocks, and also in temples.

Such is the Kedaresa in the Himalaya, a huge and shapeless mass of rock. In its origin the Lingam had never the gross meaning connected with the phallus, an idea which is altogether of a later date. The symbol in India has the same meaning which it had in Egypt, which is simply that the creative or procreative Force is divine. It also denotes who was the dual Creator - male and female, Siva and his Sakti.

The gross and immodest idea connected with the phallus is not Indian but Greek and pre-eminently Jewish. The Biblical Bethels were real priapic stones, the " Beth-el" (phallus) wherein God dwells. The same symbol was concealed within the ark of the Covenant, the "Holy of Holies". Therefore the "Lingam" even as a phallus is not "a symbol of Siva" only, but that of every "Creator" or creative god in every nation, including the Israelites and their "God of Abraham and Jacob".

(See also: Linga, Lingam, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Top - Dreidel. A dreidel is a four-sided top, played with in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each side of it is bearing a letter: נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (He), ש (Shin), which stands as an acronym for "נס גדול היה שם" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham – "a great miracle happened there"). In Israel, instead of ש (Shin), the letter פ (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle — "פה" (Po – "here"). Dreidel is also the name for a game played wit ...

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Top, Top - Types of top, Top - Dreidel, Top - Perinola

Read more here: » Top: Encyclopedia II - Top - Types of top

The name Tel Aviv in Hebrew means "Hill (tel) of Spring (aviv)", the title given by Nahum Sokolov to his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's book Altneuland (German: "Old-new-land"). The Hebrew word aviv means spring (the season). There is an account that Sokolov came up with the Hebrew title "Tel Aviv" to allude to the destruction of the ancient Jewish state and its hoped-for restoration: aviv = "spring" to symbolize renewal; and tel to symbolize the destruction of the ancient state, follow ...

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Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv - Origin of the name, Tel Aviv - History, Tel Aviv - Culture, Tel Aviv - Sports, Tel Aviv - Transportation, Tel Aviv - Statistics, Tel Aviv - Mayors of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv - Twin cities, Tel Aviv - Footnote

Read more here: » Tel Aviv: Encyclopedia II - Tel Aviv - Origin of the name

See main article Judaism and evolution. Judaism has a continuum of views about creation, the origin of life and the role of evolution in the formation of species. The major Jewish denominations, including many Orthodox Jewish groups, accept evolutionary creationism or theistic evolution. The contemporary general approach of Judaism, excepting Orthodox traditions, is to not take the Torah as a literal text, but rather as a symbolic or open-ended work. As far as Orthodox Jews, who seek to reconcile discrepancies between science and the ...

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Creationism, Creationism - Political context, Creationism - History of the concept of creation, Creationism - Types of creationism, Creationism - Jewish creationism, Creationism - Christian God as absolute origin, Creationism - Prevalence of creationism, Creationism - United States, Creationism - The western world outside the United States, Creationism - Criticism of creationism, Creationism - Scientific critique of creationism, Creationism - The Christian critique of creationism, Creationism - Creationism and naturalism

Read more here: » Creationism: Encyclopedia II - Creationism - Jewish creationism

The name Tel Aviv in Hebrew means "Hill (tel) of Spring (aviv)", the title given by Nahum Sokolov to his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl's book Altneuland (German: "Old-new-land"). The Hebrew word aviv means spring (the season). There is an account that Sokolov came up with the Hebrew title "Tel Aviv" to allude to the destruction of the ancient Jewish state and its hoped-for restoration: aviv = "spring" to symbolize renewal; and tel to symbolize the destruction of the ancient state, follow ...

See also:

Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv - Origin of the name, Tel Aviv - History, Tel Aviv - Culture, Tel Aviv - Sports, Tel Aviv - Transportation, Tel Aviv - Mayors of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv - Twin cities, Tel Aviv - Footnote

Read more here: » Tel Aviv: Encyclopedia II - Tel Aviv - Origin of the name

Sod (Hebrew, Jewish). An "Arcanum", or religious mystery.

The Mysteries of Baal, Adonis and Bacchus, all sun-gods having serpents as symbols, or, as in the case of Mithra, a "solar serpent". The ancient Jews had their Sod also, symbols not excluded, since they had the "brazen serpent" lifted in the Wilderness, which particular serpent was the Persian Mithra, the symbol of Moses as an Initiate, but was certainly never meant to represent the historical Christ. "The secret (Sod) of the Lord is with them that fear him ", says David, in Psalm xxv., 14. But this reads in the original Hebrew, "Sod Ihoh (or the Mysteries) of Jehovah are for those who fear him". So terribly is the Old Testament mistranslated, that verse 7 in Psalm lxxxix., which stands in the original "Al (El) is terrible in the great Sod of the Kedeshim" (the Galli, the priests of the inner Jewish mysteries), reads now in the mutilated translation "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints". Simeon and Levi held their Sod, and it is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible. " Oh my soul ", exclaims the dying Jacob, "come not thou into their secret (Sod, in the orig.), unto their assembly ", i.e.. into the Sodalily of Simeon and Levi (Gen. xlix., 6). (See Dunlap, Sod, the Mysteries of Adoni.)

(See also: Sod, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

In many cultures, honey has associations that go far beyond its use as a food. In language and literature, religion and folk belief, honey is frequently a symbol or talisman for sweetness of every kind. The Old Testament contains many references to honey as a symbol for all that is pleasant and desirable. For example, the book of Exodus famously describes the Promised Land as a 'land flowing with milk and honey' (33:3). So important is honey in Jewish tradition that some scholars believe an exception was made for it in the dietary law ...

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Honey, Honey - Composition of honey, Honey - Types of honey, Honey - Honeydew, Honey - Use of honey, Honey - Honey in culture and folklore, Honey - Precautions, Honey - Honey formation, Honey - Honey as a product, Honey - Honey processing, Honey - Other descriptions

Read more here: » Honey: Encyclopedia II - Honey - Honey in culture and folklore

Ophanim (Hebrew, Jewish). More correctly written Auphanim. The "wheels" seen by Ezekiel and by John in the Revelation - world.spheres (Secret Doctrine I., 92.) The symbol of the Cherubs or Karoubs (the Assyrian Sphinxes). As these beings are represented in the Zodiac by Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, or the Bull, the Lion, the Eagle and Man, the occult meaning of these creatures being placed in company of the four Evangelists becomes evident. In the Kabbalah they are a group of beings allotted to the Sephira Chokmah, Wisdom.

(See also: Ophanim, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

The Essenes are discussed in detail by Josephus and Philo. Many scholars believe that the community at Qumran that allegedly produced the Dead Sea Scrolls was an offshoot of the Essenes; however, this theory has been disputed by Norman Golb and other scholars. Some suggest that Jesus was an Essene, and that Christianity evolved from this sect of Judaism, with which it shared many ideas and symbols. According to Martin A. Larson, the now misunderstood Essenes were Jewish Pythagoreans who lived as monks. As vegetarians, celibates, and s ...

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Essenes, Essenes - History, Essenes - Beliefs, Essenes - Rules and Customs, Essenes - Dissolution, Essenes - Parallels and Influences, Essenes - Modern Essenes

Read more here: » Essenes: Encyclopedia II - Essenes - Parallels and Influences