Reading Hebrew Tombstones

 

Popular symbols include:

1 The menorah, seven branch candlestick for the seven days of the week, not to be confused with the larger nine branch candlestick for the eight days of Hanukah plus the candle which lights the others.

2 The Star of David, a star with six points, often two triangles. Muslims call it the seal of Solomon. One theory is that it was derived from an ancient amulet trapping evil in the points. 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4474319509042475984/6135780680510583369#oint

Two hands on the tombstone.

Here is the lion on a Jewish tombstone.

Enormously popular tour of the cemetery.

You see the lion on the right.

 Are you interested in a tombstone of an ancestor, a famous person, or the graves in a cemetery on a Jewish tour of a city such as Prague?

In Prague I first became aware of the symbols on tombstones.

The Prague cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. You can do a half day or whole day tour taking in the Jewish museum and cemetery.

Symbols include those for the twelve tribes, some of whose names are first names or family names such as Leo or Leve for lion, so you see lions, harts, pourers for oil, hands in prayer. Symbols for the priests (called Cohen) and the assistants (called Levi).

You also see the initial letters in Hebrew for here lies. The letters for a man are different from the letters for a woman.

I have hunted all over the net but this is a simpler version from wiki:

'Some common themes appear on many Jewish tombstones. Two hands with outspread fingers indicated that the dead man was descended from priestly stock (Kohanim) who blessed the people in this fashion, and a jug was carved on the tombstones of the Levites as an emblem of those who washed the priest's hands before he pronounced the blessing.

Some gravestones show a tree with branches either outspread or broken off, symbolizing the death of a young man or an old man respectively; or they have a cluster of grapes as an emblem of Israel.

The Star of David (Magen David) occurs frequently.

Sometimes figures symbolized the name of the deceased, as the figure of a lion for Loeb, a wolf for Benjamin, and a rose for the name Bluma/Blume.'

Ashkenazi (German and north European) tombstones are upright. Sephardi (Spanish and southern European countries) tombstones are flat.

Useful Websites

https://www.jewishgen.org/infoFiles/tombstones.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language

About Angela The Author

The Author - Quick Quotations

Angela Lansbury B A Hons  is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books. 

About Angela The Speaker & Trainer

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Vice President  Public Relations, Immediate Past President.

Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club.

Also Member of: TCA Toastmasters Club; Singapore Online Dynamic; Harrovians UK

Garen Tee on using story telling in business, on bha.learncool.sg . 

Recent meetings of BHA included an educational session on using Powerpoint for posters.

Next BHA meetings, always first Wednesday evening, 7 pm Singapore time. Next meetings 1st Wednesday evening is Wednesday June 2nd at 7pm; and third Saturday afternoon, June 19th 2pm Singapore time.  

Angela The Blogger 

Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

See next post on sculptor Tom Harvey.

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