BE that as it may, our ancestral learned men seem to have found no end of significant meanings in the seven lamps of the Menorah. Generally it was held to represent the creation of the universe in seven days, the center light symbolizing the Sabbath. Again, the seven branches are the seven continents of the earth and the seven heavens, guided by the light of God. According to Philo and others, the seven lights represent the seven planets which, regarded as the eyes of God, behold everything.[2] The light in the center, which is especially distinguished, would signify the sun, as the chief of the planets. With this was combined the mystic conception of a celestial tree, with leaves reaching to the sky and fruit typifying the planets.
There would be little difficulty, of course, in extending this symbolistic catalogue ad infinitum. We could easily and perhaps profitably select Seven Wonders of Hebraic history or achievement, seven great epochs in the development of Hebraic culture, seven great leaders of the race, etc. We might also say that the seven lights represent the seven chief studies which make up a liberal education—the Trivium and Quadrivium of the Middle Ages, substantially the foundation of the university curriculum of today[3].
The words יהי אור, "Let there be light," just above the Menorah on our seal, are not only reminiscent of the first great word of God, pregnant in meaning for humanity, but stand also for the purpose of this Society—the relighting of the Menorah in order that it may shed its ancient lustre and once again illumine the minds of men with the glory and uplift of Hebraic ideals.
REPRODUCTION (ONE-FOURTH THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL) OF THE MEMBERSHIP SHINGLE OF THE HARVARD MENORAH SOCIETY, ADOPTED IN ITS FIRST YEAR
(1906-07)
The Symbolism of Palm and Olive Branch
THE seal as originally drawn for the Harvard Menorah Society (see accompanying illustration of membership shingle) bears two or three other symbols which deserve a word of interpretation. Below the Menorah appears the so-called Star of David—lately revived by the Zionist movement as the only exclusively Jewish figure or geometric symbol of any national meaning. Entwined below the seal proper are an olive branch and a date palm, both of which are intimately associated with the history of the race in Palestine. They are the two most characteristic trees of the promised land, and provided the chief staple foods of the Hebrews during their occupation of the country. The olive, moreover, gave the oil with which the Menorah was lit. There is also much fascinating symbolism in the olive tree and the palm. Both are evergreens—standing for the persistency of the Hebrew race. The date palm, we are told, has a slender and very yielding stem, so that in a storm it sways back and forth but does not break; and throughout its length it bears scars showing where leaves have fallen off. Could anything be more beautifully expressive of the career of the Jewish nation? Finally, the olive branch has always stood for peace—one of the most cherished and distinctive Hebraic ideals; and the palm has always stood for intellectual achievement—and who would deny the palm to the race that gave the world its Bible and all that it stands for?
