Bimah

Interior of the Amsterdam Esnoga: We see the tebáh (reader’s platform) in the foreground, and the Hekhál (Ark) in the background.

A bimah (among Ashkenazim) or taivah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve as the place on which the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during a service. It is typically constructed from wood. The bimah is sometimes described as an altar or tower. 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 the Jewish Temple during the Hakhel ceremony. This later became a sign of the orthodox synagogue in the mid 1800s. The Reform (Neolog) temples moved the bimah to the front of the temple facing the congregation. One of the well known decrees of the Chatam Sofer was that the Bimah must remain in the center of the 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.

This architectural rendering shows elements typical of the contemporary synagogue bimah. These include the Ark with decorative ark doors, an eternal flame (ner tamid), Torah reading table, Rabbi's lecturn, Torah holders, wall-hung decorative menorah, and stained glass windows.

Bimah

See also