# Star of David



## becksnyc

I would like to know the meaning of the word inside the star.  It is on an Ohio church which was formerly a synagogue.

Thank you!


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## Drink

That's the Tetragrammaton. I would be surprised if a synagogue would put such a sacred name in a place like that. I think it is more likely that it was the church that wrote it in.


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## origumi

Drink said:


> That's the Tetragrammaton. I'm actually surprised that a synagogue would put such a sacred name in a place like that. I think it is more likely that it was the church that wrote it in.


The unusual letters form also supports this suggestion - seems that the writer copied it from somewhere, lacking knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet.


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## MuttQuad

origumi said:


> The unusual letters form also supports this suggestion - seems that the writer copied it from somewhere, lacking knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet.



Right you are, speaking as a typographer who has worked extensively with Hebrew. The letter forms are unacceptable, and there seems to be one letter (the first) missing altogether.


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## Drink

MuttQuad said:


> Right you are, speaking as a typographer who has worked extensively with Hebrew. The letter forms are unacceptable, and there seems to be one letter (the first) missing altogether.



It's not missing. It's just very small and too close to the next letter that it touches it.


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## becksnyc

Thank you for your prompt replies. I am familiar with the Tetragrammaton (but lack knowledge of Hebrew), and had wondered if two letters had been combined to form a contraction.
A few blocks away, there is another converted synagogue with letters inside a Star of David. Out of curiousity, I will also photograph it and let you know what I find.
The use of the Tetragrammaton has a long but not well known history on Christian edifices. Please, may I assume from Drink's comment that this would be unusual on a Jewish building?


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## Drink

becksnyc said:


> I am familiar with the Tetragrammaton (but lack knowledge of Hebrew), and had wondered if two letters had been combined to form a contraction.



In Hebrew, ligatures ("contractions" of letters) are generally not allowed. The exceptions are that they occur in handwriting and that the Sephardim used to use a print ligature ﭏ of א + ל (see here for a better image).



becksnyc said:


> The use of the Tetragrammaton has a long but not well known history on Christian edifices.



The Wikipedia page I linked to above actually includes some images of churches with the Tetragrammaton.



becksnyc said:


> Please, may I assume from Drink's comment that this would be unusual on a Jewish building?



It is a sacred name and anything it is written on must be handled with care, never erased or defaced, and disposed of only by burial in a genizah. Thus, it is almost exclusively written in Bibles (Torah scrolls, Chumashim, Tanachs) and prayer books (Siddurim). In most other places, it is either abbreviated or a euphemism is used instead. Take a look at this Jewish stained glass window of the Ten Commandments, where what in the Bible is the Tetragrammaton is abbreviated to ה" (the second word from the top right).


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## MuttQuad

Drink said:


> It's not missing. It's just very small and too close to the next letter that it touches it.



Could be, but the way the letter is drawn also makes that protrusion look like some sort of serif. Obviously, the letterer was not very skilled/knowledgeable.


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## Drink

MuttQuad said:


> Could be, but the way the letter is drawn also makes that protrusion look like some sort of serif. Obviously, the letterer was not very skilled/knowledgeable.



Yes, that's why I originally thought it said חוה (Eve).


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