A Simchat Torah flag. Linocut by Salamon Yedidya (Seelenfreund). Jerusalem: Y.C. [Chaim Yehoshua] Kasovsky, "Beit Yisrael"; Y. Heilpern Press, [1923].
A swallowtail flag, printed in blue. One side is divided into two strips; on the upper strip are a Torah Scroll with a crown, flanked by angel wings, in front of the rising sun. On the lower strip are heraldic lions supporting a Star of David enclosing the Hebrew word "Zion". Alongside the traditional inscription "Zot HaTorah asher sam Moshe Lifnei Bnei Yisrael" (This is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Israel) appears an inscription of a more Zionist nature – "For our people, our country and our Torah" (Hebrew). The other side of the flag depicts a dove carrying in its beak a branch with the inscription "Sissu VeSimchu BeSimchat Torah" (Rejoice and be happy on Simchat Torah), in leaf-shaped lettering, alongside seven stars (following Herzl's suggestion for the Zionist flag), a Sukkah, the four species and a sheaf of wheat. The flag is signed in the plate "S. Yedidya".
This flag, which combines traditional and Zionist themes, appeared in 1923 on the last leaf of the newspaper "Al HaMishmar" edited by A.Z. Ben-Yishai and published in Jerusalem, alongside "user instructions": "To the Hebrew children in the diaspora! Like your friends in Palestine, you too in the diaspora, shall raise on 'Simchat Torah' only the Hebrew flag" (See: "The Flags of Simchat Torah, from Popular Jewish Art to Hebrew-Israeli Culture". Tel-Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 2012. p. 21).
Salamon Seelenfreund (1875-1961) was born in Hungary. When he was about 16, he left Szeged to Budapest to build his life as an artist. He studied at the School of Arts of the city and later also in Rome, Paris and Germany. When he returned to Hungary, he founded a workshop and became known as a master craftsman and art teacher; he was even invited to design and carry out the decoration of the new Neolog synagogue in Szeged, inaugurated in 1903. Later he held a solo exhibition and participated in group exhibitions in Szeged (1910) and Budapest. In 1921, he immigrated with his family to Palestine and founded a workshop in Jerusalem, later settling with his family in the colony of Beit Tulma in Emek HaArazim. During the 1929 Palestine Riots, the family escaped in time and was saved; however, the house and all that was in it – plans, works of art and equipment – was burned and anything that remained was looted. In the following years Yedidya lived alternately in Tel-Aviv and Givatayim; many of his works were destroyed when his house suffered a direct hit in the Egyptian aerial bombing during the War of Independence.
As a calligraphy artist, much of Yedidya's work focused on the Hebrew letters, which served him as raw material for creating decorative shapes and models inspired by the tradition of Jewish art. For additional information about him, see enclosed article by Timnah Rubinger, published by the Memorial Museum of the Hungarian Speaking Jewry.
21.5X28.5 cm. Good condition. Small tears, some of them reinforced with tape.