Are you wearing a star of david?

amother

DarkRed

Tue, Nov 14 2023, 10:36 pm

CPenzias wrote:

Yes! I'm a public school teacher and the only orthodox jew in my building. Maybe there are other jews but I don't know. I'm a proud jew.

I'm a proud jew by looking very Jewish. I don't need to wear a star for others to be able to tell that I'm Jewish.
I think I've only seen jews that don't look like jews wear a star necklace.

amother

Pumpkin

Tue, Nov 14 2023, 11:21 pm

amother DarkRed wrote:

I'm a proud jew by looking very Jewish. I don't need to wear a star for others to be able to tell that I'm Jewish.
I think I've only seen jews that don't look like jews wear a star necklace.

Agree with this
When you have nothing Jewish about you, you need a Magen David to identify you as Jewish.
Not only am I dressed fully and identifiably Jewish, but every moment of my life is dictated by the Torah
People who need a Magen David do not live their lives like that

zaq

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 10:21 am

amother Pumpkin wrote:

Oh. Please. IMHO it's a matter of fashion. When I was a kid practically every girl got a Magen David necklace for some birthday or other. At some point it became unfashionable but it may be coming back. You don't relate to the symbol, don't do anyone any favors. No need to make obnoxious, contemptuous, sweeping statements about people you know nothing about.

And FTR, you're not the KBH's accountant. Only He knows what counts as "having something Jewish about them." If you knew, you might be exceedingly surprised. And maybe even a little ashamed. Of yourself.

amother

Lemon

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 10:25 am

Also, Might be hard to believe but there are lots of non-jews out there who dont' necessarily see a modestly dressed woman and know it means she's Jewish. Not talking about Brooklyn or Lakewood type places. If they're not exposed to Jews too much they wont recognize it's a sheitel either.

watergirl

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 10:34 am

zaq wrote:

So well said. The judgement in this thread is nuts.

CPenzias

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 1:15 pm

amother DarkRed wrote:

I'm a proud jew by looking very Jewish. I don't need to wear a star for others to be able to tell that I'm Jewish.
I think I've only seen jews that don't look like jews wear a star necklace.

Good for you. People where I work don't know a jew from a doorknob so I will proudly wear my mogen Dovid.
I do not appreciate the implication in your post.

watergirl

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 1:25 pm

CPenzias wrote:

Seriously! A few women over here implying that I don't look Jewish. So rude and insulting from people who don't know anything about me. Smh

It's not just that. This whole thread has such an air of people wearing things for other people's benefit. Like I wear this thing so those who see me will see it and draw whatever conclusion. While it's true that people see a yid in a kippah and tzitzis and most know from that that it's a yid, I don't think anyone knows by how a women is dressed that she's frum. It's a IYKYK thing for the most part.

It's also true that there are those who are afraid to wear their star necklace in public now for fear of being targeted for it alone - has that happened before?

Lastly, there are those who just love the meaning behind the symbol and just wearing it makes them feel a certain way. Not everyone wears something because they are making a statement or to show how they identify. But I can see how many people here would think so, considering so many women on this site live in a place where their clothing shows other frum women at a glance who their affiliation is, so they assume the rest of the general public feels the same. They don't.

DrMom

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 2:18 pm

I have a magen David pandant that I received as a bat mitzvah present. I wear it sometimes. I don't wear the same necklace all the time.

Is the idea of this thread to see if women feel safe wearing something which publicly them as Jews?

CPenzias

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 2:47 pm

watergirl wrote:

The comments just rubbed me the wrong way. 😕 like really wrong. I thought we were supposed to have ahavat chinam. What happened to that?

amother

DarkRed

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 3:18 pm

CPenzias wrote:

Good for you. People where I work don't know a jew from a doorknob so I will proudly wear my mogen Dovid.
I do not appreciate the implication in your post.

Do they know that the star of david represents Judaism or Israel?

amother

Brickred

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 4:25 pm

Not only is it a matter of IYKYK, but even IYK, you may be wrong. There are other groups who dress modestly, and I myself have mistakenly thought that someone was an Orthodox Jew based on his or her mode of dress, only to find out that this was not so. The rabbi of our nearby Reform temple looks fresh out of Central Casting for Yeshivish: Big black kippah, dark charcoal-grey suit, white shirt, narrow dark tie, neat beard. One of my college professors also sported a neat short beard, white shirt and dark pants, and until the end of the semester I figured he was frum. No kippah, but technically he doesn't have to cover his head if he's not walking daled amos, davening or eating, none of which he did in class. He was Jewish, yes, but not Orthodox.The young woman in the midi-length skirt, twinset and half-pony hairdo is a member of a very conservative Protestant denomination.

I have no problem with Jews, secular or religious, wearing a Magen David. Your tzitzis is not designed to announce to others that you're a Jew; it's to remind YOU that you are and you have mitzvos to keep. You want to wear a Magen David, a menorah, a mezuzah, a dreidel or a piece of gefilte fish (Ashkenazim only) to announce to others that you're proud to be a Jew, kol hakavod.

What I have a problem with is nonJews who wear a Magen David.

zaq

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 4:34 pm

Watergirl posted :It's also true that there are those who are afraid to wear their star necklace in public now for fear of being targeted for it alone - has that happened before?

Yes. NYC in the 1970s. Dati guys often wore baseball caps, berets, ski caps and other forms of headgear instead of a kippah.

NechaMom

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 5:12 pm

amother DarkRed wrote:

Do they know that the star of david represents Judaism or Israel?

Most people know that a star with six corners represents Israel. A regular star has only 5 corners. On second thought, if they don’t know the difference between a Jew and a door knob there’s no chance they’ll know the difference between the 2 stars.

Rappel

Wed, Nov 15 2023, 5:21 pm

Although there isn't a deep source for the meaning behind the six pointed star, R' Yoel Elitzur writes that it could represent the completion of Judaism:

the upward triangle is the mountain of Sinai, and the downward triangle is the valley between Mt Gerizim and Mt Eval - the beginning and completion of our instructions on how to live in the land as Hashem's Jewish people. The merge point of the two is our total dedication to G-d.

For that reason alone, I would wear the star, aside from the million other reasons born out of history.

Last edited by Rappel on Wed, Nov 15 2023, 11:28 pm; edited 1 time in total