Description
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.
