The 12 Tribes of Israel Collection
Dan from the 12 Tribes of Israel
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Dan - The Judge“G-d has judged me and also listened to my voice.” (Gen. 30:6)
Rachel named the first child of her nursemaid Bilhah, Dan: a name that embodies the quality of justice. Judgment and justice is about setting boundaries and maintaining objectivity to avoid confusion. Civilization rests on the justice of its laws and its ability to draw clear lines between right and wrong. This painting of Gush Dan, in the Tel Aviv area, shows the natural boundary between sea and land with space for a city to spring up and come into focus. We see the land and water, city and sky, the memory of the past; and, the glimmerings of a future. The tribe of Dan, the last tribe to travel in the nation’s desert encampment-formation, had the task of collecting any items left behind. They are the ones who navigate the boundaries and -- while maintaining distinctions -- weave together an objective and just point of view.
The unique quality of opal is in its interplay of colours. The tribe of Dan’s gemstone is reflected in the milky haze above the city in the distant horizon, in shimmering water, and in the homes that are scattered beneath us. |
Detailed Explanation
- Essential Quality - Justice
- Birth Mother - Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant
- Birth Order - Seventh
- Mother's Naming - So she (Rachel) gave him (Jacob) Bilhah her maidservant as a wife, and Jacob consorted with her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "G-d has judged me, He has also heard my voice and has given me a son." She therefore called his name Dan. (Genesis, 30:4-6)
- Landscape - A view of the Mediteranean Sea coastline overlooking the old city of Jaffa north towards the modern city of Tel Aviv.
- Gemstone - Opal
- Father (Jacob) Blessing - "Dan will avenge his people, the tribes of Israel will be united as one. Dan will be a serpent on the highway, a viper by the path, that bites a horse's heels so its rider falls backward. (Genesis, 49:16-17)
- Kabbalah - Dan is the path of law and order (‘dan’ means to judge). Objective justice is the heart of any civilization. (Jacobson, Simon from Twelve Tribes - Twelve Paths) Perspective is at the heart of fair judgement. It requires the judge to examine the past and consider the future; it demands attention to the divide between right and wrong. The tribe of Dan was the last tribe in the procession of Israelites out of Egypt. They collected all the items left behind by the other 11 tribes, and they were required to ascertain to whom to return these belongings.