The Ark in a synagogue (Jewish house of worship) is known as the Aron Kodesh amongst Ashkenazim and as Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls (Sifrei Torah in Hebrew) built in all synagogues. In most cases, when possible, the Ark is located on the wall of the synagogue closest to Jerusalem, considered the holiest spot in the world by Judaism. Lesko synagogue, Poland A synagogue (Hebrew: בית כנסת ; beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: שול, shul) is a Jewish place of religious worship. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people with around 15 million followers as of 2006 [1]. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. ... Ashkenazi (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, Standard Hebrew Aškanazi, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzî) Jews or Ashkenazic Jews, also called Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, Standard Hebrew Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzîm), are Jews who are descendants of Jews from Germany, Poland, Austria and Eastern Europe. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from... Torah () is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. It is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages. ... Sefer Torah being read during weekday service. ... Jerusalem (; Hebrew: Yerushalayim; Arabic: al-Quds; Greek Ιεροσόλυμα) is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people with around 15 million followers as of 2006 [1]. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. ...

Gibraltar Image File history File links V02p108001_Aron. ...

Amsterdam Image File history File links V02p109001_Aron. ... Amsterdam Location Flag Country Netherlands Province North Holland Population 742,951(1 January 2005) Coordinates Website www. ...

Modena, 1505 Image File history File links V02p111001_Aron. ... Modena (Mòdna in Modenese dialect) is a city and a province on the south side of the Po valley, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ... 1505 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Origin of the names

Aron Kodesh

Aron Kodesh comes from Hebrew אֲרוֹן קֹדשׁ [ărōn qōdeš] (i.e. aron kodesh), "Holy Ark". This name is a reference to the aron ha-qodesh, the Hebrew name for the Ark of the Covenant which was stored in the Holy of Holies in the ancient Tabernacle and the Telmple in Jerusalem. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... A late 19th-century artists conception of the Ark of the Covenant, employing a Renaissance cassone for the Ark and cherubim as latter-day Christian angels The Ark of the Covenant (ארון הברית in Hebrew: aron habrit) is described in the Hebrew Bible as a sacred container built at the command... The Tabernacle in the Wilderness The Most Holy Place also known as the Holiest of Holies is a location within the inner tabernacle of Moses. ... The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew as the Mishkan (Place of [Divine] dwelling). It was to be a portable central place of worship for the Hebrews from the time they left ancient Egypt following the Exodus, through the time of the Book of Judges when they were engaged in conquering...

Hekhál

Hekhál, also written hechal, echal or heichal — and sometimes also Echal Kodesh (mainly amongst Balkan Sephardim) comes from Hebrew הֵיכָל [hēkhāl] ‘palace’, a term which was also used in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem to refer to the inner sanctuary containing the Holy of Holies. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... The Temple in Jerusalem or the Holy Temple (Hebrew: בית המקדש, transliterated Bet HaMikdash) was built in ancient Jerusalem in c. ... The Tabernacle in the Wilderness The Most Holy Place also known as the Holiest of Holies is a location within the inner tabernacle of Moses. ...

Placement and structure

The contemporary glass mosaic Ark of B'nai Israel Congregation in Tustin, California by artist David Ascalon

The Ark is usually placed on or near that wall of the sanctuary which is facing Jerusalem — in practice often on the East wall, even in many cases where this is not in the direction of Jerusalem, and in some cases also on a seemingly random wall which was seen as architecturally easiest when the synagogue was constructed. In those cases where the ark does not show the direction to Jerusalem, traditional Judaism instructs the worshipper to face the true direction towards Jerusalem in prayers like the Amida. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x937, 52 KB) Summary Contemporary mosaic by David Ascalon, Ascalon Studios, depicting events from the Old Testament. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x937, 52 KB) Summary Contemporary mosaic by David Ascalon, Ascalon Studios, depicting events from the Old Testament. ... David Ascalons Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1994), on the Susquehanna River, Harrisburg David Ascalons Totem, fabricated bronze sculpture at the Cherry Hill Public Library, Cherry Hill, New Jersey David Ascalons Light, cast bronze and stainless steel sculpture, Montgomery, Alabama From a series of abstract... Jerusalem (; Hebrew: Yerushalayim; Arabic: al-Quds; Greek Ιεροσόλυμα) is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ... Amida can mean: Amida is the Japanese name of a popular Buddhist deity. ...

In ancient synagogues, such as the fifth-century synagogue in Susia, the torah scroll was not placed inside the synagogue at all, but in a room adjecent to it, showing that the sacredness of the synagogue does not come from the ark but from it being a house of prayer. The Torah was brought in to the synagogue for reading.

In connection with the Ark, there is usually a parokhet (curtain). The parokhet can be placed outside the doors of the Ark (typical Ashkenazi and Mizrachi custom) or inside the doors of the Ark (typical Spanish and Portuguese and Moroccan Sephardi custom). Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, Aškanazi,Aškanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAškănāzî, ʾAškănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... The Mizrachi (acronym for Merkaz Ruchani or religious centre) is the name of the religious Zionist organization founded in 1902 in Vilna at a world conference of religious Zionists called by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines. ... Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also known as Portuguese Jews and Jews of the Portuguese nation, is that distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the...

External links

• “Aron Kodesh” in Jewish Encyclopedia