“Gad, a troop shall troop upon him but he shall troop upon their heel.”

In the original Hebrew this is a play on words. Leah named him in 30. She counted him as her own son since her female slave, Zilpah, had given birth to him by Jacob. The name “Gad” sounds like the Hebrew word for troop, “gdood.” The King James Bible has it: “And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.” (Genesis 30:11) Other versions translate it as “fortune is come.” Jacob’s blessing from Genesis 49 sounds like: “Gad gdood ygoodenoo v’hoo yagood akev.” It is full of assonance and is also somewhat of a pun.

The bowl is 17 inches in diameter and 8 inches high. The design element of the outer resembles tents and the photograph in the center show Israeli paratroopers at their induction at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Each soldier in the troop will receive a Bible and a rifle, shown in the foreground.