The Hamsa was not Jewish. It was from Mesopotamia. It was always an Islamic symbol, an amulet. Jews in the area ultimately adopted it, though it is essentially a graven image; an idol. Jews do this when surrounded by religions other than our own. We assimilate and essentially, "go astray." Hamsas are not something we should value, as they essentially represent the Hand of G-d (for Jews), Fatima for Islam. It's kept as an amulet against the evil eye, which of course, is superstition, another breach of our commandments. I think our problem is basic ignorance and a big case of FOMA. We want to be part of everything, but we don't enough about who WE are to make wise discernments.
The Hamsa was not Jewish. It was from Mesopotamia. It was always an Islamic symbol, an amulet. Jews in the area ultimately adopted it, though it is essentially a graven image; an idol. Jews do this when surrounded by religions other than our own. We assimilate and essentially, "go astray." Hamsas are not something we should value, as they essentially represent the Hand of G-d (for Jews), Fatima for Islam. It's kept as an amulet against the evil eye, which of course, is superstition, another breach of our commandments. I think our problem is basic ignorance and a big case of FOMA. We want to be part of everything, but we don't enough about who WE are to make wise discernments.