Jewish Jewelry, Real vs Pop

Ever since Madonna walked in to the Kabballahjewelry to the two tablets (two bracelets) Moses
Centre, Jewish jewelry got a huge tailwind in thebrought down from Sinai, the Ten
fashion business. Jewish jewelry in the form ofCommandments (ten shekel weight) and the half
amulets, mystical whatnots, red strings, holyshekel silver coin every Jew had to give for the
water containers, and a litany of pop Jewishnational census (half shekel weight of the nose
jewelry , or more accurately pseudo-Jewishring). The Rabbis thereby linked Jewish prehistory
jewelry started popping up everywhere whilewith the beginning of Jewish history through
people who have never heard of the BabylonianJewish jewelry.
Talmud started becoming fans of Rabbi ShimonThe story of Jewish jewelry continues with all the
bar Yochai. It was all very strange and verygold and gems and precious stones that the Jews
confusing, and put Jewish jewelry at the forefronttook from Egypt upon their flight from slavery
of cultural consciousness without warning.into the desert and Red Sea. This Jewish jewelry
This Jewish jewelry stuff all came into the marketserved two purposes – one good, and the
only recently. Hamsas, evil eye charms, Seal ofother very bad. On the one hand, it was used to
Solomon pendants, they're all very new, if looselymake the Golden Calf, which was very shortly
based on general Semitic fashion trends in Arabiathereafter ground up into dust, thrown into water,
centuries ago. However, going back to the sourceand drunk by the Jews on Moses' order. The
of Jewish jewelry, one encounters a rich historyJews then had to remove the remainder their
replete with stories surrounding Jewish jewelryJewish jewelry on God's order in embarrassment
and magnificent construction tasks with preciousfor what they had done.
stones and metals. One can also find tragic storiesThis colossal mistake was later corrected when
of Jewish jewelry that, if you track thethe remainder of the Jewish jewelry was used in
redemptive process of the Jewish people, canthe construction of the Tabernacle and Aaron's
tear your heart out.High Priestly wardrobe, complete with precious
The first story, at least that I can think of,gems on the breastplate and solid gold structures
involving Jewish jewelry way back when isfor the moving sanctuary.
Rebecca's betrothal to Isaac. Eliezer, Abraham'sLater in Deuteronomy, the Jews are commanded
head of household, finds Rebecca, who graciouslyto destroy ever piece of religious jewelry they
waters his camels, at which point he becomesencounter that is not Jewish jewelry. All the gold
convinced that she is the right woman for Isaac.they find that is used for idol worship must be
He then immediately gives Rebecca two pieces ofdestroyed. All the silver, all the stones, all of it.
Jewish jewelry (if the Jewish people could be saidThis is markedly different from converting
to have existed yet). Two gold bracelets weighingEgyptian jewelry to Jewish jewelry as they had
ten shekels and one gold nose ring weighing half adone upon leaving Egypt. Yet another indication of
shekel.the Jewish people growing up and maturing on
The Rabbis later analogized these pieces of Jewishtheir Jewish journey of Jewish jewelry.