Obj. ID: 39320
Sacred and Ritual Objects Wimple (Torah binder), Metz, 1949
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
The custom of the Wimpel or Torah Binder stretches back some 500 years at least in the world of classic Ashkenaz, the German speaking lands. The cloth which held the child at the time of his circumcision, almost always of linen, was cut into strips and sewn into a long textile. On this lengthy cloth was embroidered or painted a formulaic inscription, blessing the child and wishing that he grow up to "the Torah, the Chupah and good deeds". The beginnings of the custom were executed on linen cloth with silk embroidery. In the late 18th century the custom passed to painting on the textile with substantial illustration, although late examples of embroidered Wimpels do exist. Wimpels in the Gross Family Collection have their origin from Germany, Denmark, the Czech lands, Luxembourg and Alsace. The Wimpel served as a Torah Binder, being brought to the synagogue for use on the child's first birthday, his Bar Mitzvah and the Shabbat Chatan before his marriage.
This is a superb example of a post-war wimpel painted in the bright colors so popular among this ritual article in Alsace. The brightly painted letters are here with the particular and most telling presentation of crossed flags of France and the State of Israel. There are wonderful illustrations as well for the Chupah and the Torah.
Name: Michael ben Yitzhak