Logo created for Minyan Rimonim by Stephanie Aaron.
Rimonim is the Hebrew word for pomegranates. The pomegranate is notable for its
beautiful red flowers, shapely fruit, sweet flavor and its prodigious number of seeds.
In the bible, the pomegranate is mentioned as one of the seven species emblematic
of Israel's agricultural fertility. When the Israelite spies surveyed Canaan they
brought back pomegranates to Moses as proof of the land's abundance. In the Song of
Songs, the pomegranate figures prominently in the imagery of love and sensuality and its
color is associated with fire and passion.
According to the midrash, there are exactly 613 seeds within the pomegranate
corresponding to the number of mitzvot prescribed in the torah. Israel is
compared to a pomegranate, as full of good deeds as this fruit is of seeds.
The above is adapted from The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols by Ellen Frankel and
Betsy Platkin Teutsch