Daily Podcasts Video Research

(My) Star of David

JL;DR SUMMARY Michael Golden reflects on wearing the Star of David as a symbol of Jewish identity, pride, and resistance, particularly following moments of increased antisemitism and violence. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

HolocaustStar Of DavidJewish IdentityZionismJewish PrideSolidaritySymbolismPersonal Narrative

Places mentioned

Chicago, Illinois, United States
"I dont think I started wearing a Star of David around my neck until I was in my mid-20s.I had started doing some work interviewing Holocaust survivors in Chicago, then in Iowa and California."
Iowa, United States
"I dont think I started wearing a Star of David around my neck until I was in my mid-20s.I had started doing some work interviewing Holocaust survivors in Chicago, then in Iowa and California."
California, United States
"I dont think I started wearing a Star of David around my neck until I was in my mid-20s.I had started doing some work interviewing Holocaust survivors in Chicago, then in Iowa and California."
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"In 1999, at age 32, I took my first trip to Israel. I fell in love with the country the first half of the first day singing Hatikvah in front of a portrait of Theodor Herzl in Independence Hall.A portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism, hangs in Independence Hall in Tel Aviv."
Jaffa, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"Later that week, I bought a simple silver ring from a really cute Israeli in Jaffa City."
Jerusalem, Israel
"Before I left Israel, I took a day to tour the seminal Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem."
New Jersey, United States
"On the flight back to Newark International, an older couple from New Jersey and I talked about how much we already missed Israel after just a few hours in the air."
Boulder, Colorado, United States
"Star underneath at a rally on behalf of the Hamas-held hostages, Boulder, Colorado."
Costa Rica
"On Oct. 8, I canceled a vacation I was scheduled to take to Costa Rica a week later."
Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland
"The Star began playing a more prominent role as the emblem of the Jewish people in 1897, when it became the official symbol of the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland."
This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 57537
Cairo Source ID 50
Retrieved 2025-07-23 05:30:38 UTC
Curated 2025-07-23 08:31:43 UTC