Violin made by Johann Gottlieb Ficker, around 1800.
Right photo: Moshe and Zehave (Golda) Weinstein
This violin was a life-long friend of first-generation violin maker Moshe Weinstein. Born in a shtetl in Eastern Europe, little Moishale fell in love with the sound of the violin. It happened when a klezmer troupe arrived in his small town to play at a rich man’s wedding. While all the children gathered under the table to hide and steal sweets, Moishale was hypnotized by the sound of music. After a few festive days, the troupe left, and so did Moishale, who followed the musicians out of town. His mother, Ester, looked for the boy, but to no avail.
When his mother finally found him and dragged him back home, he was first punished and then was given a very simple violin. This was the turning point in the family’s history.
Moishale taught himself to play; he later studied at the music academy in Vilna, where he met a pianist named Golda. The two later married and immigrated to Palestine in 1938.
Before leaving Europe, Moshe Weinstein went to Warsaw to study the repair of stringed instruments with Yaacov Zimermann. Since many Jews played the violin, Moshe felt there would be need for a violin maker in Palestine.
Upon his arrival in Palestine, Moshe worked in an orchard picking oranges. A year later, he opened a violin shop in Tel Aviv.
Loyal to the tradition of helping young prodigies with their fist steps into music, Moshe supported many talented Israeli children, among them: Shlomo Mintz, Pinchas Zukerman, Yitzhak Perlman, and others.