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Obj. ID: 55518
Sacred and Ritual Objects
  Simhat Torah banner, Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno), 1869

© Gross Family Collection, Photographer: Bar Hama, Ardon,

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Just after the festivals of the Jewish New Year in the fall of the lunar calendar is the holiday of "Simchat Torah" , celebrating the end of the yearly cycle of the reading of the entire Torah and the beginning of the new cycle of that reading. It is customary during that celebration to dance ia circle around the synagogue carrying the Torah scrolls with great joy and song.  The Torah scrolls themselves were too large and too heavy to be carried by children. The custom developed of having the children carrying flags relating to the holiday during the celebratory dancing with the Torah Scrolls. These flags were made of paper and often decorated and attached to a stick to serve as the flag pole. In older times, an apple and a small lit candle were placed on top of that stick above the flag. The printing of such flags rather than hand-crafted flags appears to have developed in Lviv, Vilnius, and Warsaw in the second half of the 19th century. Since the flags were used by children on one day a year, were made of paper and were snot gently treated during the celebrations, most were destroyed or discarded. As true examples of ephemera, early examples are very rare. Since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, a large variety of such flags have been printed there.

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

2 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Simhat Torah banner | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1869
Active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Paper, Ink,
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height: 23.6 cm, Width: 22.5 cm
Height
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Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
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Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
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Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
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Colophon
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Hallmark
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The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |