A wimpel ( yi, ווימפל, from
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, "cloth," derived from Old German, ''bewimfen,'' meaning "to cover up" or "conceal") is a long,
linen sash used as a binding for the
Sefer Torah by
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s of
Germanic (
Yekke
A Yekke (also ''Jecke'') is a Jew of German-speaking origin. German Jews are perceived in Israel as having attention to detail and punctuality.
Demography
The wave of immigration to British Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s known as ...
) origin. It is made from the cloth used to swaddle a baby boy at his
bris milah
The ''brit milah'' ( he, בְּרִית מִילָה ''bərīṯ mīlā'', ; Ashkenazi pronunciation: , "covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' ) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism. According to the Book of Genesis, ...
, uniting the communal world of the
synagogue with the individual's own life cycle.
The wimpel is an offshoot of a common Jewish practice. In the times of the
Tannaim
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...
, all Torah scrolls were wrapped only with a cloth, known in Hebrew as a “mappah,” or in German, a “wimpel.” As with other holy Judaic objects, donating a mappah was considered to be a great
mitzvah and honor, and very often a groom would donate one on the eve of his wedding. Most of these were made from old clothing. While some Rabbis approved of this practice, others did not because they felt that it was not proper respect for the Torah. Unlike these controversial “second-hand” mappot, the cloth used at a baby's circumcision was undoubtedly holy, and it gradually became the custom to donate these as mappot.
There are many variations as to what takes place at the actual wimpel ceremony. One common approach is to bring it to synagogue when the boy turns three and is toilet-trained. He and his father get the
aliyah of
gelilah, and together they wrap the wimpel around the Torah. (Variations include the child's age, the type of aliyah, and the extent of the child's participation in the actual ceremony.) Afterwards, the family invites the community to join them for a
kiddush, a small celebratory party.
This custom is still observed today by most members of the German community. It is an extremely joyous occasion, and its main purpose is to instill a love and enthusiasm for
shul
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worsh ...
and Judaism within the child.
Origins
Some attribute the origins of the custom to a story recorded about a time when the
Maharil was the
sandek
A sandek or sandak ( he, סנדק "companion of child") is a person honored at a Jewish ''brit milah'' (circumcision) ceremony, traditionally either by holding the baby boy on the knees or thighs while the mohel performs the brit milah, or by h ...
for a circumcision. The circumciser, known as the "
mohel
A ( he, מוֹהֵל , Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: , arc, מוֹהֲלָא , "circumciser") is a Jew trained in the practice of , the "covenant of circumcision".
Etymology
The noun ( in Aramaic), meaning "circumciser", is derived f ...
", performed the circumcision, and then realized that he had forgotten to bring a bandage. The Maharil understood that this was a life-threatening situation, and he instructed the mohel to use a mappah from one of the synagogue's Torah scrolls as a bandage. Then the Maharil instructed the child's parents to wash it once they were done with it and return it to the synagogue with a minor contribution to reimburse the synagogue for their use of the mappah. However, there are reasons to believe that the practice of using the cloth from the circumcision predates the Maharil, and the story is only of interest to illustrate that the cloth, even after being sanctified with the holiness of the Sefer Torah, may be used for the wrapping of the baby at the circumcision. See Rabbi Rabbi
Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger's Shoroshei Minhag Ashkenaz for more details about this discussion.
This incident highlighted the connection between the Torah and circumcision, as both relate to covenants that the Jewish people have with God (the covenants of Torah and circumcision). The custom gradually developed into the one that is practiced today by German Jews: At a baby's circumcision, the mohel places a long swatch of white cloth - the wimpel – under the pillow. Afterwards, the wimpel is beautifully decorated – it can be either painted or embroidered – with the child's name, date of birth, and the Hebrew phrase which states “Just like he entered the
ovenant ofcircumcision, so too he should
he covenant ofTorah, marriage, and good deeds.” Some mothers do the artwork themselves; others retain the services of “wimpel professionals,” e.g., men or women who do this as a side job or hobby.
Another explanation comes from an 80-year-old lady who remembers a ceremony from her synagogue in Germany, where the young child was brought to the synagogue once he was free of diapers, and the women would throw the wimpel on the Torah, while the men carried the Torah below the Court of Women (Ezrat Nashim).
The wimpel was then dedicated to the synagogue, symbolizing the fact the child is now pure, and can take part in the service.
Creating the wimpel
The wimpel is created shortly after the brit milah using the swaddling cloth that was used at that ceremony. The cloth is cleaned, cut into strips and sewn into a sash measuring six or seven inches wide and ten or twelve feet long. The child's Hebrew name and date of birth are painted or embroidered onto the cloth, usually by the mother or grandmother, along with the traditional
blessing
In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will.
Etymology and Germanic paganism
The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...
:
* ה' יגדלהו לתורה ולחופה ולמעשים טובים אמן
*"...may God raise him up to
life ofTorah, a
successful marriage, and
good deeds,
Amen
Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and ...
."
Symbols and Motifs
Bringing the wimpel
When the child comes of age to begin learning Torah (age 3), he and his family bring the wimpel to the
synagogue for
Shabbat morning services. After the Torah reading, the child performs the ritual of
gelila
Torah reading (; ') is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the a ...
, perhaps with the help of his father, by wrapping the wimpel many times around the Torah scroll and tucking the end of the cloth into the folds. In this way, the child's individual responsibilities to God and His commandments are literally wrapped around his communal responsibilities, a figurative lesson for the child and his family.
Rabbi
Shimon Schwab
Shimon (Simon) Schwab (December 30, 1908 – February 13, 1995) was an Orthodox rabbi and communal leader in Germany and the United States. Educated in Frankfurt am Main and in the ''yeshivot'' of Lithuania, he was rabbi in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, ...
, Rav of
Khal Adath Yeshurun synagogue in
Washington Heights,
New York, which revived the custom among the younger generation of Yekke congregants, suggested that perhaps the source of the wimpel custom was to avoid knotting and unknotting a tie around the Torah on Shabbat (''see''
the 39 categories of activity prohibited on the Sabbath).
On that first
Shabbat that the wimpel is presented and used, the child's family makes a
kiddush in honor of their son's entering into a life of Torah.
Other uses
The synagogue typically receives many more wimpels than Torah scrolls. The wimpels are often stored in a drawer in the
Ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
. A boy's wimpel would then be placed on the Torah on other special occasions in his life, such as his
Bar Mitzvah,
Aufruf Aufruf (Yiddish: אויפרוף ''ofrif'', ''oyfruf, ufruf/ifrif'' or אויפרופן ''ofrifn''), which in Yiddish means "calling up," is the Jewish custom of a groom being called up in the synagogue for an aliyah, the recitation of a blessing o ...
, and other important family events.
Some wimpels were even used as a decorative banner on the chuppah itself.
Lengnau Mappot
One of the most extensive collections of wimpels was found in the 1960s in the
Surbtal in the Swiss canton of
Aargau. The 218 textiles, which had been discovered in the women's gallery of the synagogue in
Lengnau, span three centuries. The oldest one dates back to 1655. In 1967 the wimpels were examined by Dr. Florence Guggenheim-Grünberg. They are now part of the collection of the
Jewish Museum of Switzerland
The Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel provides an overview of the religious and everyday history of the Jews in Basel and Switzerland using objects of ritual, art and everyday culture from the Middle Ages to the present.
History
The muse ...
.
Notes and references
Bibliography
* Lubrich, Naomi (ed.), ''Birth Culture. Jewish Testimonies from Rural Switzerland and Environs'', Basel 2022. ISBN 978-3796546075
* Ehrenfreund-Michler, ''Dinah: Wickelgeschichten. Die Lengnauer Tora-Wimpel''. In: Bhend, Angela/Picard, Jacques: ''Jüdischer Kulturraum Aargau'' 2020, S. 212-214.
* Feuchtwanger-Sarig, Naomi: ''Torah Binders from Denmark''. In: Gelfer-Jørgensen, Mirjam (Hg.): ''Danish Jewish Art. Jews in Danish Art''. Kopenhagen 1999, S.382-435.
External links
Das SchultragenThe Presentation at the Synagogue, 1869 By
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (7 January 1800 in Hanau, Germany – 26 February 1882 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German painter who is often regarded as the first Jewish painter of the modern era. His work was influenced by his cultural and religio ...
Photo of wimpel made in Germany in 1694wimpel.orgInformation and instructions for modern-day wimpel-making
{{Jewish life
Jews and Judaism in Germany
Ashkenazi Jews topics
Birth in Judaism
Yiddish words and phrases
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