Simhat Torah Torah banner (Degel) from Eastern Europe

This small banner (degel) was carried by children during the joyful processions of Simhat Torah, the festival that closes the annual Torah reading cycle and inaugurates a new one in celebration. During the circumambulations (hakafot), the scrolls are carried and dancing takes place, while children wave these flags, sometimes topped with an apple and a candle. In Eastern Europe, these paper banners were printed with lions, Tablets of the Law, inscriptions, and wishes, and fixed to a wooden staff. As an object of children's and festive culture, the degel illustrates the popular joy associated with the Torah in the Ashkenazi world.