The 12 Tribes of Israel Collection
Zebulun from the 12 Tribes of Israel
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Zevulun - The Businessman“G-d has given me a good portion.” (Gen. 30:20)
Leah’s sixth son, Zebulun, embodies the ability to seek and find the gifts embedded within the everyday. Zebulun was a merchant tribe that partnered with the tribe of Issachar to support them in their study. Zebulun’s role was to enter the marketplace and reveal the sparks of G-dliness hidden within the materiality of the world. The painting’s view of a port asks us to look beneath the surface of the water to the unexplored world below, to navigate the watery surface of a world that is inherently foreign to us and allow it to offer up its spiritual gifts. And when we have the courage to seek out the sparks of the Divine within our lives, and to support scholarship however we can, we are blessed. The twin boats, Shalom (Peace) and Baruch (Blessed) are ready to carry us and keep us afloat.
The gemstone of Zebulun is a diamond, reflected in this painting in the sparkling clarity of the water and the sky. |
Detailed Explanation
- Essential Quality - Gift
- Birth Mother - Leah
- Birth Order - Sixth
- Mother's Naming - Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Leah said, "G-d has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will make his permanent home with me for I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun. (Genesis, 30:19-20)
- Landscape - A view of the port of Haifa and the Carmel Mountains in the background.
- Gemstone - Diamond
- Father (Jacob) Blessing - Zebulun shall settle by seashores. He shall be at the ship's harbour, and his last border will reach Zidon." (Genesis, 49:13)
- Kabbalah - Zebulun is the merchant, the businessperson personality. His role is to enter the marketplace and redeem the Divine sparks within the material world (the ‘secret treasure hidden in the sand’ (Deuteronomy 33:19)). Zebulun complements Issachar; they forge a partnership: Zebulun supports the scholar, he funds houses of scholarship, which earns him a right to partake in the reward of Issachar’s studies. (Jacobson, Simon from Twelve Tribes - Twelve Paths)