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The Israeli Emblem
by Alec MishoryThe author is an art histroian, art critic and a lecturer at the Open University of Israel.The new State of Israel was in need of an official emblem to demonstrate its sovereignty in the community of nations. The following notice was published in the Official Gazette: The Provisional Council of State hereby proclaims and makes known that the emblem of the State of Israel shall be as illustrated below:
11 Shevat 5709 (10 February 1949) The official emblem was adopted nine months after the State was established; it has since appeared on official documents, on the presidential standard and on public buildings in Israel and abroad. In the process of designing the emblem, many proposals which sought to include the symbols deemed appropriate for representing the Jewish people in their reborn state were reviewed. To avoid imitating the emblems of European countries and to create a unique one, ancient visual symbols from former periods of Jewish sovereignty were sought. Much importance was attached to symbolizing the continuity and fulfillment of the Zionist dream in the emblem of Israel. Whereas the flag had been created in the Diaspora, by dreamers, the emblem was designed in Israel, by those who had realized the dream. Because it had to incorporate elements of symbolic meaning, the designers felt a heavy sense of mission and responsibility. The design process was long, as two almost antithetical forces tried to dictate the character of the emblem - religious and ritual values, on the one hand - secular and sovereign norms, on the other. The emphasis moved from "camp" to "camp" until the final design of the emblem was determined. The Provisional Council of State announced a competition to design the emblem of the State.
Had the Provisional Council of State adopted the design submitted by Walisch and Struski, the emblem of the State of Israel would have embodied the Jewish people's irrevocable affiliation with its glorious past in the homeland (the menorah) along with the revival of that past in the light of Herzl's modern liberal ideas (the stars). But the proposal was not accepted. A special "Emblem and Flag Committee" was set up to deal with new proposals; it was headed by Beba Idelson and its members included cabinet ministers and members of the Knesset. The committee decided that the seven-branched menorah should be one of the elements of the emblem, but each member had his own ideas as to what other elements, e.g. candles or the "Lion of Judah," should be included. Transport Minister David Remez suggested that experts in various fields, be included in the committee. Thus, Aba Elhanani (architect), Eliezer Sukenik (archeologist), Reuven Rubin (painter) and Leopold Krakauer (architect-artist) joined the committee.
David and Schechter supplemented the familiar menorah and seven stars with the inscription Shalom al Yisrael (Peace over Israel) and stylized depictions of a palm frond (lulav) and a ram's horn (shofar). They also altered the shape of the emblem, to an ellipse. Another change was the model chosen for the menorah: depictions found on the mosaic floors of ancient synagogues in Eretz Israel rather than the relief on the Arch of Titus. In antiquity, the seven-branched candelabrum, a primary symbol of the Temple, appeared on coins, on decorated glass, in catacomb frescoes and on the walls and mosaic floors of synagogues. In these settings the menorah rarely appears alone; generally it is in the company of other ritual objects associated with the Temple - the censer, the ram's horn, the palm frond and citron, the last two associated with the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), one of the festival celebrated at the Temple. These depictions of the Temple menorah are not consistent, so that it is impossible to be certain of its true form. They also differ from the accounts in the Bible, of Josephus and the Talmud, and it seems that the variation was intentional. Rather than reflecting a lack of artistic ability, the imprecision may point to a certain restraint and perhaps, even a prohibition against accurate depictions of the Temple and its appurtenances. The main difference between all the renderings of the menorah on the floors of ancient synagogues in Eretz Israel and that depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome is the base; on the latter the seven branches of the candelabrum rest on a stepped polygonal base. Most of the former representations, by contrast, give the menorah a tripedal base. One familiar depiction of the three-legged menorah appears on the floor of the sixth-century synagogue in Jericho. Here the menorah is flanked by a ram's horn and plam frond and below it is the inscription Shalom al Yisrael ("Peace over Israel"). This was probably the source for the design submitted by David and Schechter, presumably chosen on the recommendation of Prof. Sukenik, one of the experts on the Emblem and Flag Committee, who had uncovered the Jericho mosaic in 1947. The inscription Shalom al Yisrael comes from the end of Psalm 125: Do good, O Lord, to the good, to the upright in heart. But those who in their crookedness act corruptly, let the Lord make them go the way of evildoers. Peace over Israel. The most significant change in the David and Schechter design is the change of the circular form (in the synagogue in Jericho) into an ellipse. Elliptical seals were common during the period of the monarchy. They generally bore the name of the owner (sometimes along with that of his father), plus a decorative element. The general message conveyed by the David and Schechter emblem may be summarized as follows: in addition to the link with the glorious past of the Jewish people in its homeland, with its ritual, religious and political aspects, the new State would be based on Herzl's modern secular liberalism, all accompanied by peaceful intentions. The struggle over the relative emphasis to be given to each aspect of the emblem was manifested in a variation on their original design, also submitted by David and Schechter at the request of members of the committee. The palm frond and ram's horn were missing from the modified proposal. The deletion of the palm frond and the ram's horn, leaving only the menorah and the inscription, created an emblem that still indicated Israel's peaceful intentions, but, by eliminating the association with ancient synagogues, left a more secular message. The proposals by David and Schechter, like Walisch's earlier design, were not accepted by the committee. After lengthy discussions, it was decided to invite new ideas for the emblem of the State. This time 131 persons responded to the notice in the press and most of the designs incorporated the menorah motif. Since the notice was addressed to the public at large, proposals came in from all over the country and from persons in all walks of life. Several supplemented the menorah and the seven stars with other motifs, limited only by the designer's imagination. Henry Raczkowski, for example, added a pair of doves, one on each side of the menorah. The base of his menorah doubled as that of the "scales of justice," which would guide the new state. A streamer across the top of the emblem bears Herzl's seven stars, three on either end and the seventh in the middle of the Hebrew inscription: Ki bitzedaka yikon kise (for the throne is established by righteousness [Proverbs 16:12]). Among the many proposals submitted during this round was one by the brothers Maxim and Gavriel Shamir. Beba Idelson presented their design to the members of the Seal and Flag Committee at its sixth meeting, on December 28, 1948. The Shamir brothers' emblem has a heraldic format; in the center is a stylized menorah, each of the seven branches crowned by a star. The menorah is flanked on each side by a branch on which mirror-image leaves are arranged with a tiny circle between each pair of leaves. According to Gavriel Shamir, their design evolved as follows:
After the Shamir brothers incorporated the menorah from the Arch of Titus into their design for the emblem, the committee adopted it unanimously. Its chairperson, Beba Idelson, forwarded the proposal to the Provisional Council of State, which ratified it as the new emblem of the State of Israel. Menorah and Olive Branches:
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The
proposal submitted by graphic artists Oteh Walisch and W. Struski
was chosen out of 450 designs submitted by 164 participants. The seven
branched-candelabrum of the 
One
of the new proposals submitted to the Emblem and Flag Committee was
rendered by graphic artists Itamar David and Yerachmiel Schechter.
The
Shamir brothers' menorah was so "modern" that the Emblem and
Flag Committee, convened on January 10, 1949, was overcome by doubts
at the "modernity" which they themselves had suggested. They
did not like the stylized menorah and resolved that Beba Idelson, as
suggested by Transport Minister David Remez, ask the Shamir brothers
to prepare another design, using "Titus's menorah." Remez's
return to this version added another level of symbolism to the menorah
motif, one that had been absent from the earlier proposals: now the
menorah would symbolize not only the grandeur of the past but also the
present and, perhaps, the future. Borrowing the menorah from the Arch
of Titus would constitute the visual metaphor of an idea prevalent in
those years: just as the relief representing Titus's triumphal procession
in Rome stood for the destruction of the Jewish state in 70 CE, so its
rebirth would be symbolized by the return of the menorah - if not to
the Temple - then to the newly born State of Israel. In other words,
the menorah is returned from the Arch of Titus, where it symbolizes
defeat, humiliation and disgrace, and is installed in a place of honor
on the emblem of the State, the establishment of which is testimony
to the eternity of the Jewish people. In this way, past, present and
future are all linked in one symbolic motif.
