- Bimah
A bimah (among
Ashkenazi m, derived from Greek polytonic|βῆμα), almemar (from Arabic "al-minbar") or tebah (amongSephardi m) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewishsynagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from theTorah stands during the Torah reading service. The "bimah" is sometimes misdescribed asaltar ortower . The "bimah" was located in the center of the synagogue most likely just as the temporary wooden "bimah" (this is the origin of the term) was central to the "women's courtyard" of theTemple in Jerusalem during theHakhel ceremony. [Talmud Tractate Sotah 7:8] While the original meaning of the word referred to the platform, the table from which the Torah scroll is read can also be referred to as the bimah, even when it is not on a platform. This later became a sign of the Orthodox synagogue in the mid-nineteenth century . The Reform (Neolog) temples moved the "bimah" to the front of the temple facing the congregation. One of the well-known decrees of theChatam Sofer was that the "bimah" must remain in the center of an Orthodox synagogue.The "bimah" is typically elevated by two or three steps, as was the "bimah" in the Temple. At the celebration of the
Shavuot holiday when synagogues are decorated with flowers, many synagogues have special arches that they place over the "bimah" and adorn with floral displays. The importance of the "bimah" is to show that the reader is the most important at that moment in time, and to make it easier to hear their reader of theTorah . A raised bimah will typically have a railing. This was a religious requirement for safety in bimah more than 10 handbreaths high. (Somewhere between 33 and 50 inches) A lower bimah (even one step) will typically have a railing as a practical measure to prevent someone from inadvertently stepping off.References
Reflist
ee also
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Ark (synagogue)
*Pulpit
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