One of the holiest items in Judaism, the actual scroll is written by a Torah scribe on special parchment paper and housed in a holy cabinet called an ark.
The word “Torah” means instruction or law and rabbinic teachings say that the Torah was given to Moses at Mount Sinai to share with the Jewish people. Judaism is based on the Hebrew bible called the Torah, or the five books of Moses which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. If one of the Greek officials passed by, Jewish children would quickly put away their books and pull out a toy, the spinning top, and pretend to play games. But, the Jews defied the decree and studied Torah in secret. Each side of the dreidel has a Hebrew letter written which represents the first letters of a Hebrew phrase, Nes Gadol Haya Sham (Poh) or “A Great Miracle Happened There (Here).” We play a dreidel game on Hanukkah because there is a legend that before the Maccabees defeated King Antiochus and the Greek armies, the regime outlawed the study of Torah. We spin the dreidel – a 4-sided spinning top – during the festival of Hanukkah. Technically speaking, a menorah for Hanukkah is a “Hanukkiah,” but most everyone just calls it a menorah. One of the most familiar symbols of Judaism, the menorah is a seven-armed candelabra that represents the state of Israel as a “light upon nations.” Interestingly, the menorah that is used to celebrate Hanukkah has nine arms instead of seven so we can light a candle for each night of the festival. Some of these symbols for Judaism are deeply rooted in religious practice while others are more cultural and spiritual. Let’s explore symbols that are commonly identified as Jewish and examine their history and significance with these pictures of Jewish symbols and their meanings. The Important Symbols of Judaism and Their Meanings
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