In the Bible, when the patriarch Jacob blesses his son Judah, he alludes to the strength, power and courage of this tribe with imagery of a lion, and it was from Judah that would eventually emerge Jewish kingship, including King David and Solomon. The Lion of Judah has been used as a Jewish symbol ever since, including for the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, and now on any one of these special jewelry pieces from Israel.