JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

One such tiara, belonging to a Jewish woman of the late 18th
or early 19th century, was acquired by the well-known Polish
painter Jan Matejko, and he used it in several of his paintings
as a headdress for Polish princesses. After the beginning of the
19th century the binde gradually disappeared and was replaced
by the sterntikhel, sternbindel, or bindalikh worn on top of
the kupkeh. The sterntikhel consisted of pearls and diamonds,
strung on iron wire, set off against a cloth background, and
later on with no background. Fixing the jewels on the sterntikhel
was the job of an expert craftsman (which gave rise to
the family names Perlherfter and Perlsticker (“pearl-fixer,”
“pearl-embroiderer”). From the sterntikhel (and other pieces of
jewelry) a pearl or a segment was deliberately removed to indicate
that there can be no complete joy as long as the Temple is
in ruins. From the beginning of the 20th century the sterntikhel
ceased to be worn almost entirely. In Lithuania where the
sterntikhel was never worn, the headdress consisted of a white
binde wound around the head like a turban, called a patshaile;
it was often adorned with a decorative pin, the knopp.
Various forms of the harband and of the kupke continued
to evolve in Poland throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries,
most of them trying to suggest a woman’s hair (with a
white line of parting, the kvishel). The wig or sheitel (made of
natural hair) was never considered proper wear for the very
Orthodox woman, but many imitations, made of brown satin,
were in use. Eventually the kupke took on the shape of a hat,
the hitel, topped by flowers, ribbons, peacock feathers, and a
tsitenadel (“trembling pin”). Two pairs of earrings were sometimes
attached to the kupke, one at the level of the temples, the
other at the level of the earlobes. Exhibitions of Jewish clothing
may be seen at the Israel Museum (Jerusalem), the Museum
of Ethnography and Folklore (Tel Aviv), and the Ethnological
and Folklore Museum (Haifa).
[Miriam Nick]
Modern
Distinctive Jewish costume largely disappeared from the early
20th century. Among the influences of ancient dress that have
survived in synagogue wear is the Roman pallium, in the form
of the tallit, and the *kitel (sargenes) worn by some on the Day
of Atonement and for the seder. Distinctive features are still
found in the everyday dress of Oriental Jews. In addition, the
wearing of a headcovering at all times has become de rigueur
as the external sign of the Orthodox Jew; among the modern
element this has developed as the small embroidered kippah.
The ultra-Orthodox groups, concentrated mostly in Jerusalem
and Bene Berak in Israel, and in limited areas in other parts
of the world, still wear the characteristic streimel on Sabbaths
and festivals (including the intermediate days) and the long
caftan, yellow and white striped, is sometimes still retained.
The custom of married women covering their hair, obligatory
according to the Mishnah, is no longer widely observed, except
in Orthodox circles where the sheitel is also sometimes
worn as a substitute.
Bibliography: IN THE BIBLE: EM, 4 (1962), 1034–49 (incl.
bibl.); IDB, s.v., cloth (incl. bibl.); A. Rosenzweig, Kleidung und
drexler, millard S.
Schmuck in Bibel und talmudischen Schrifttum (1905); H.F. Lutz, Textiles
and Costumes… (1923), 40–72; C. Singer, et al. (eds.), A History of
Technology, 1 (1955), 413ff.; W.F. Albright, in: AASOR, 21–22 (1941–43),
55–62, Pl. 53; Y. Yadin, in: Eretz Israel, 4 (1956), 68ff; idem, The Finds
from the Bar Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters (1963), 169ff. OTHER
PERIODS: A. Rubens, A History of Jewish Costume (1967), includes
bibliography; Krauss, Tal Arch, 1 (1910), 127ff.; M. Grunwald, in: JJV,
25 (1923); H. Munic, in: YIVO-Bleter, 12 (1937), 463–73; E. Fuchs, Die
Juden in der Karikatur.
DRESSLER, WILLIAM (1890–1969), U.S. cardiologist and
electrocardiographer. Born and educated in Austria, Dressler
went to the United States as a refugee in 1938. From that year
until 1967 when he became consultant, Dressler served as chief
of the Cardiology Clinic and head of the Electrocardiographic
Laboratory at Maimonides Medical Center. Dressler’s major
contribution to medicine was his recognition and description
of the post-myocardial infarction syndrome, also known as
the Dressler syndrome. He wrote six cardiology texts, three in
German and three in English. His Clinical Cardiology (1942)
became the classic book of cardiological diagnosis.
[Fred Rosner]
DREUX (Heb. ש״ורד), ׁ town in the Eure-et-Loire department,
France, 53 mi. (86 km.) S.W. of Paris. During the Middle
Ages, the Jews of Dreux were numerous enough to occupy
their own quarter, which was remembered as the rue
des Juifs up until the 19th century. Many figures previously associated
with Dreux, like R. *Solomon b. Judah (“the saint”)
are now believed to have been active in Rouen. According to
W. Bacher (REJ, 17 (1888), 301), Abraham *Ibn Ezra stayed
there for a time.
Bibliography: Gross, Gal Jud, 171–85; E. Lefèvre, Documents
historiques… Dreux (1859), 398–9.
[Bernhard Blumenkranz]
DREXLER, MILLARD S. (“Mickey”; 1944– ), U.S. merchant.
Born and raised in New York City, Drexler spent all
his professional life as an apparel retailer. He rose from humble
beginnings to become chief executive officer of the publicly
owned Gap Inc., whose focus on affordable basics made
it the biggest specialty clothing store chain in the U.S. and
an internationally familiar name. While attending the Bronx
High School of Science, Drexler worked in New York City’s
garment center with his father, a buyer of buttons and textiles
for a coat manufacturer. In 1966, he earned a business degree
at the State University of New York at Buffalo and two years
later received an M.B.A. at Boston University. He entered retailing
with posts at Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, and Abraham
& Straus. In 1980, he was appointed president of Ann Taylor
and within three years turned the women’s apparel chain into
a success. He joined Gap in 1983 as deputy to Donald *Fisher,
founder and chairman, was named president of the Gap division,
and went about reinventing the company. He hired new
designers, strengthened quality control, and invested in store
renovation. In 1986, he launched GapKids, an immediate suc-
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 17