Anglo-Jewish Coats of Arms
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ANGLO-JEWISHCOATS OF ARMS. -+ By LUCIEN WOLF. of Jewish armorial is for To speak bearings scarcely accurate, the arms are coats arms. coats of used by Jews very seldom Jewish of As a rule, the last thing Jewish applicants to Heralds' College think of is the emblazonment of any reminiscence of their family traditions or their racial origin on the escutcheons which are intended to mark their rank inGentile social life. This is exceedingly regrettable, both from the heraldic and the Jewish standpoint. No conscientious student " " can view with satisfaction the of the gentle science accumulation of spurious heraldic material utterly devoid of historical or genealogical otherwise than value; nor can any chauvinist Jew be disappointed that his brethren should elect to follow the examples of Gentile a use of own parvenus, when proper and intelligent their historical emblems and devices might found a branch of heraldry, rivalling, in its valid claim to antiquity, some of the wildest fancies of the mediaeval the Salomons have pursuivants. Thus, family might very appro? a use a priately adopted Clavicle. Davidson might Magen David instead of the Gentile bearings which a Jewish family of that name " " sun in or a has borrowed from its Scotch namesakes. A splendor flame of firewould be a fitting crest for a Myers or a Phillips. A has such a flame for a whereas a Wolf family named Benjamin crest, would obviously be themore legitimate object. There is not a single am a or a registered case with which I acquainted of Cohen Levi who has introduced into a coat of arms the Jewish emblems of his ancient descent. The failure of the mediaeval mind to grasp the historical connec? tion between the Jews and the people of the Bible will account for the otherwise strange inconsistency which marks the attitude of the early Jewish Historical Society of England is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Transactions Jewish Historical Society of England ® www.jstor.org 151 ANGLO-JE WISH COxlTS OF ARMS. Heralds towards the Israelitish people. While, on the one hand, they explicitly denied the right of the Jews to bear arms,1 on the other they sought to prove the antiquity of the art of blazon by declaring were and as coat that the patriarchs the first gentlemen, such used 6( armour. his Thus Sylvanus Morgan, in Sphere of Gentry," assigns toAdam a plain shield gules (red).2 It is an amusing coincidence that the leading Jewish family at the present day, the Rothschilds, derive their name from a similar escutcheon which is the basis of their coat of arms. a Unwarranted as are these fictions, they possess far larger pro? portion of truth than their inventors suspected. European heraldry only became systematised in the thirteenth century; but long prior to that date the Jews had used family and tribal emblems which, but for the legal prohibition towhich I have referred,might have followed the course which a scientific to the ruder and methodising gave coherency much less ancient devices of the Western nations. The antiquity of heraldic devices among the Jews is shown by several references to u man them in the Bible, as for example in Numbers ii. 2, where every " of the children of Israel" is instructed to pitch by his own standard There is even a of with the ensign of his father's house." mythology Jewish heraldry, for the Rabbis invented shields and devices for the heroes of Bible history.3 The seals of the early Hebrews were, in more or less spite of the Law, graven with images disposed armorially.4 an In process of time the language of seal symbolism became object of study, and Leopold Low has expressed the opinion that the Talmudic terms miDIBH 'WH and flllionWH refer to persons who discharged in their day the functions of heralds.5 At no time in their mediaeval history did the Jews altogether surnames abandon these emblems. Long before they adopted from the analogies in Jacob's Blessing and other Biblical texts, theymade the same analogies yield designs for family seals. Judah would stamp his shtaroth with a Lion, Benjamin with a Wolf, Naphtali with a Stag, 1 Schudt: Merkw?rdigkeiten IL, p. 262. 2 See also the Authorised Bible of 1611, and Fuller's "Pisgah Light." 3 Low : Alterthumshunde, p. 56. 4 Levy : Siegel u. Gemmen, pp. 33-46 and pi. III. 5 Alterthnmskun.de, pp. 58-60. ANGLO-JEWISH COATS OP ARMS. 155 Issachar with a Bear, and so forth. The Biblical prohibition anent graven images was compounded with by slightly smudging the image.1 armour. Sometimes these crests came very near simulating real coat Thus among the Jewish seals still extant is one of Todros Halevi of Toledo, who flourished in the fourteenth century, a consisting of a pointed quarterfoil charged with ^R^^jjw triple towered castle and fleur de Iis2 (fig. 3). Another Wt% inscribed with the name *D n? WD, seal,3 p kK^-^S seems to show an attempt at impalement* The shield a w&ffi$fi?M is divided into two lozenges,one chargedwith j^^^Pj^jjf 1. female figure, the other with a palm tree, and above Fig. it is a crest in the shape of the extended hands of the Cohanim surmounted by the Crown of the Law (fig. 1). The official seal of the late Chief Rabbi, Solomon Herschell,4 was distinctly heraldic, although, instead of a shield, itsmain feature consisted of a Scroll of the Law. On this was a perpendicular band charged with a bucket, while the dexter and sinister spaces were inscribedy^pT T^Kw H|HP^^^^^H|H nDfcW xxxii. For sup ^K^^^^^^^j^k (Deut. 7). Por*ers? na,da sta? an(*a li?nrampant ffig^)jjjfe,V^aB ?an ?^V10USreference *? tDeRabbi's b*^:$fr*v -^*"f^v*"j^^yI ancestry,n? p OV?and thewhole iW^iW^ ' WaS surmounte<* ^y a ducal crown Uj?^ fjm naively intended to represent the Crownof theLaw (fig.2). Many Wm^^^^^^^j?M of this sort of ^^Hk^?^^^^2^B^^H examples design? generally with the tables of the Deca 2? Fig- logue substituted for the open Sepher ?are to be found on the breast-plates and mantles of Synagogue scrolls* Jewish emblems have sometimes been heraldically tricked on account of the tombstones. Henriques de Castro, in his Cemetery Tree of at Amsterdam, describes two tombstones on which the Life appears on shields ensigned with coronetted helmets elaborately 1 Cf. Hist. MSS., Fourth Report, p. 458. 2 Museum No. Cat. Anglo-Jewish Exhibition, p. 190 (British Exhibs., 44). 8 Ibid., p. 149 (No. 2,287). 4 Cat. Anglo-Jewish Exhibition, p. 21 (No. 620). 156 ANGLO-JEWISH COATS OF ARMS. mantled.1 The armorial character of all these devices was doubtless due to the influence of Gentile heraldic art. At the same time it is to note2 that before was as a interesting ages heraldry recognised the on seals system, devices Jewish displayed rude representations of supporters and crests. At least one Jew is known to have made a study of heraldry? Jacob Jehuda Leon, surnamed Templo, who visited England in 1675, was an not, perhaps, for the first time.3 He ingenious draughtsman, now and, besides other heraldic work, designed the Masonic coat used by the English Grand Lodge, a quaint copy of which was shown at the recentAnglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition, and is herewith repro? duced.4 This coat is entirely composed of Jewish symbols. It is obviously an attempt to display heraldically the various forms of the Cherubim pictured to us in the second vision of Ezekiei?an Ox, a Man, a Lion, and an Eagle?and thus belongs to the highest and most mystical domain of Hebrew symbolism. Its crest is composed of the mercy seat with the attendant Cherubim in the orthodox attitude xxv. prescribed in Exodus 18-20, and its supporters represent the same mystical figures as they appear in Ezekieli. 11, with their right and left wings respectively extended towards each other and the outer wings covering their bodies. The motto on the original coat, composed by Templo, was in Hebrew, and is given by Lawrence Dermott, the Masonic writer, who saw it in 1759, as "Kodes la " Adonai." The panel here shown has themotto in English, Holiness to the Lord," togetherwith a pendant of Masonic symbols which are seems not mentioned in Dermott's description. Hence it clear that this panel is an adapted version, and not the original of Templo's design.5 1 De Castro :Keur van Grafsteenen, pp. 85, 87. 2 Levy, loc. cit. 3 "Relation of the most memorable things," etc. (1675). Dedication to " Chas. II. Templo says of his Model of the Temple that it was graciously owned with devote affection thirty years ago and upwards by that serene Queen, your Majesty's mother." 4 Cat., pp. 20,21. See also the coloured plate herewith reproduced. Ahiman Mezon, by L. Dermott. Second edition (1764), p. xxxiv. 5 " Masonic Student," writing to the Freemason some years ago?I do not know the exact date as my authority is a newspaper cutting?says of this coat of arms, "A learned friend of mine has a panel with the same arms, carefully ARMS OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLISH FREEMASONS. EARLY COPY OF A DESIGN BY RABBI JACOB TEMPLO. (From a XVIIth Cent, panel in the possession of Mr. W. H. Rylands). ANGLO-JE WISH COATS OF ARMS. 157 The story that the original was found among Templo's papers and that he was the author of it is, inmy opinion, very well grounded.