Wimpel (Torah Scroll Binder)
Germany, 1676
Linen, silk threads
Courtesy of the Bachrach family, in memory of Ernest and Ruth Bachrach
German Jews bound their Torah scrolls with a linen belt, called a wimpel, as early as the mid-fourteenth century. In the ensuing centuries, the custom developed to make the wimpel out of fabric that was used in the circumcision of a baby boy, recording on it the child’s name, date of birth, and traditional blessings. Upon weaning, the young boy would bring the wimpel to the synagogue and bind the Torah scroll with it.
Embroidered on this wimpel is an image of the Bacharach fortress and the inscription, “Shmuel, son of Moshe—may he live a good, long life—Bachrach, born with good omen on Monday, 11 Tammuz, [5]436; may he become great in Torah and good deeds, amen, selah.”
