Largest ever exhibition of Wimpels

Our shul member, Rav Yosef Prager, recently returned from a short visit to Prague where he attended the world's largest ever exhibition of Wimpels. The exhibition at the Robert Guttmann Gallery of Prague's Jewish Museum ran from December 9 2009 (Chanukah) until February 28 this year under the Czech title "Nechť mu Bůh dá vyrůst" which means "May Hashem Let him Grow Up". The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue, documenting well over 1000 Wimpels in the immense collection of the Jewish Museum. There were more than 100 Wimpels on display and imaginative ideas were employed to enable the viewers to read the entire length of the inscriptions. The oldest binder in the collection dates from 1668, whilst the newest is from 1930. Although the subject of the exhibition is Wimpels from Bohemia and Moravia, there are only about 10 from Moravia (all from the 18th century), with all the rest from Bohemia. In her learned article in the Catalogue, the curator of the exhibition, Dr. Dana Veselska, reaches the conclusion that the custom of making and donating Wimpels spread into the Czech lands from Germany, with by far the largest number of items coming from the region closest to the German border. The catalogue quotes extensively from the work of Rav Binyomin Hamburger concerning all aspects of the custom. A translation of his work into Czech was prepared for the benefit of staff members unfamiliar with Hebrew. Dr. Veselska sent with Rabbi Prager a complimentary copy of the Catalogue for Rav Hamburger, with a special dedication.
The Catalogue (336 pages), available in English or Czech (not Hebrew) contains about 150 full colour pictures of exhibits. Several copies are still available. Anybody interested in receiving a copy should contact Rabbi Prager directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .