Insert text here.
HomeWHAT IS A WIMPEL
HOW MAY I PARTICIPATE
Please provide us with your favorite quote, a short
phrase, well wishing and/or congratulatory words
for Zoe by adding them in the below Message box and filling out the remaining Contact form. These words will be incorporated onto the Wimpel which will be used to wrap the Torah and will be a keepsake for Zoe to be used on her wedding day.
The tradition is actually a 400 year old Ashkenazi custom that is not a well known one in the 21st Century. Our goal is to reintroduce it. A "wimpel" (a Yiddish word from German 'cloth' means to cover up - is a long linen sash used as a binding for the Sefer Torah by Jews of Germanic origin. Mom's maiden name is "Schumann" so this tradition is a fitting contribution. Some refer to it as a 'gartel' banner,or belt. It is a cloth that is wrapped around the Torah scroll and holds the scroll together when it is not being used. It is the banner analogy that created the custom. When a baby (back then a boy) had his Bris the tradition was to save the baby's swaddling clothes, cut them into strips several inches wide and about two feet long. The cloth was then decorated with the infant's name, his date of birth, geneological information, scenes from Jewish life and quotations. This later was expanded for girls where in addition to using the baby's swaddling cloth the mother's dress hem were also included. There is nothing actually religious about the custom rather is it is a cultural tradition. As the child became older additions were made to the Cloth. One such custom is that on the Shabbot of the child's third birthday the child's Wimpel would be wrapped around the Torah. The Wimpels of each child would be stored at their Synagogue until the child needed to use it again for the next special event. It was eventually draped on the child's Chuppah at marriage. The tradition advanced to include blessings, quotes and special good wishes from the child's loved ones that would be added to the Wimpel. This special cloth with these good wishes would then be used to wrap the Torah each time the child read from the Torah. It became a special event upon the child's Mitzvah. So here we are! We love the idea of all of that support up there with Zoe as she is called to the Torah! o
