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Torah Binder
German (Ashkenazi)
1745
Object Place: Europe
Medium/Technique
Linen plain weave, embroidered with silk
Dimensions
17 x 384 cm (6 11/16 x 151 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Philip Lehman in memory of his wife Carrie L. Lehman
Accession Number38.1148
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Judaica, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionA Torah binder, or wimpel, was used to keep the rolled Torah scroll together. It was made of four linen strips cut from the swaddling cloth used to wrap a baby boy at his brit mila` (circumcision). After the brit, these strips would be pieced together, and emboidered or painted with the Hebrew blessing recited during the ceremony - with the baby's and father's names, the date of birth, and good wishes for the boy's life. Embroidered decoration, often carried out by women in the child's family, showed animals, plants, star signs and weddings scenes.
Torah binders were presented on the boy's first visit to synagogue (aged 3 or4) and then used when he read from the Torah on the day of his Bar Mitzvah (aged 13)
Light neutral brown linen embroidered with drawn figures, birds, flowers and inscriptions worked with yellow, brown, blue, green and neutral pinkish and lavender silks. A man and a woman under the Huppa` (wedding canopy), a double-headed eagle, a boy holding the open Torah scroll, and the spies returning from the land of Canaan are among the motifs represented.
Torah binders were presented on the boy's first visit to synagogue (aged 3 or4) and then used when he read from the Torah on the day of his Bar Mitzvah (aged 13)
Light neutral brown linen embroidered with drawn figures, birds, flowers and inscriptions worked with yellow, brown, blue, green and neutral pinkish and lavender silks. A man and a woman under the Huppa` (wedding canopy), a double-headed eagle, a boy holding the open Torah scroll, and the spies returning from the land of Canaan are among the motifs represented.
InscriptionsEmbroidered in Hebrew: “Meyer son of our great teacher Rabbi Yosef born with mazel tov (under good fortune) on Monday 23 Elul 5505 (20th September 1745). May God raise him to Torah, Huppah (marriage canopy), and good deeds. Amen…”