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 tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve as the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading service. 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.^{[citation needed]} 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. Image File history File links Interior of the Esnoga (Spanish and Portuguese synagogue) in Amsterdam, from tebáh (bima) towards hekhál (ark). ... Image File history File links Interior of the Esnoga (Spanish and Portuguese synagogue) in Amsterdam, from tebáh (bima) towards hekhál (ark). ... Niteowlneils 10:02, 10 September 2005 (UTC) Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... Sephardim (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... A synagogue (Hebrew: בית כנסת ; beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: שול, shul; Ladino אסנוגה esnoga) is a Jewish place of religious worship. ... 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. ... Torah reading (in Hebrew: Kriat HaTorah or Reading [of] the Torah) has followed a steady pattern for the past two thousand years following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and is still practiced by Orthodox Judaism and its adherents. ... Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Eiffel Tower Fire-observation watchtower in Kostroma, Russia. ... The Temple in Jerusalem or the Holy Temple (Hebrew: בית המקדש, transliterated Bet HaMikdash) was the primary resting place of the Gods presence (shechina) in the physical world according to classical Judaism. ... Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest stream of Judaism in America and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch of Judaism in the United Kingdom, and (3) the historical predecessor of the American movement that originated in 19th-century Germany. ... Moses ben Samuel Sofer (or Schreiber), known to Jews as the Hatam Sofer, or the Chsam Soifer, (after his main work שות חתם סופר - Responsa Hatam Sofer, lit. ...

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. Shavuot, also spelled Shavuos (Hebrew: שבועות (Israeli Heb. ...

A bimah in a synagogue will generally have the Ark, as well as a table to rest the torah scroll on. Many synagogues will also have a stand in which the torah is placed while it is being dressed. The Ark in a synagogue (Jewish house of worship) is known as the Aron Kodesh amongst Ashkenazim and as Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. ...

See also

• Ark (synagogue)
• Pulpit