Bima
The Bima ( Hebrew בִּימָה Bīmah , pl.בִּימוֹת Bīmōt , German 'stage [n]' , from Greek τὸ βῆμα, Bema , or Almemor , Hebrew אַלְמֵימָר Almejmar , German for 'pulpit' ) is the place in a synagogue from which the Torah is read out during the service. The Bima and Torah shrine form the liturgical-functional centers in the divine service.
description
As a rule, the bima consists of a raised desk or podium, a table ( Schulchan , Hebrew שׁוּלְחָן Šūlḥan , German for 'table' ) to place the Torah there, as well as a staircase for the entrance and exit.
For the Ashkenazim , the bima is traditionally located in the center of the synagogue. The central position became the hallmark of Orthodox synagogues in the 19th century , while in liberal Jewish communities the bima with the Torah shrine was moved to the east and there was arranged with the Torah shrine - and mostly with a pulpit - to form a dais.
With the Sephardim , the lectern is Tevah ( Hebrew תֵּבָה Tevah , pl.תֵּבוֹת Tevōt , German 'box [boxes], desk [e]' ), and is traditionally located on the side of the synagogue room opposite the Torah shrine.
With the Sephardim, the prayer leader leads the service from the Tevah, with the Ashkenazim from the Amud .
Support bima
In the Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republic , from the second half of the 16th century, an independent, historically completely new structure of a synagogue developed. There are four massive columns in the corner areas on a square bima podium in the middle of the synagogue. The capitals of these columns are connected with round arches that support a wall square, which is closed at the top with a cornice . Barrel vaults stretch from this cornice to the outer walls. The whole structure can be seen as a stone canopy .
The support bima was used in Polish synagogues until the 19th century and was also adopted in other countries.
gallery
Old Synagogue in Krakow with a free-standing bima in the middle of the room
Sephardic Synagogue in Amsterdam , in the foreground the Tevah
Synagogue Rykestrasse in Berlin with a dais of Torah shrine, pulpit and lectern
Synagogue in Ansbach , central bima with an octagonal stone parapet and eight twisted, marbled wooden columns
Support bima in the Great Synagogue of Lutsk
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Individual evidence
- ↑ https://publikationsserver.tu-braunschweig.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbbs_derivate_00009149/Doktorarbeit.pdf Zur Stützbima. Accessed May 31, 2019.
literature
- Carol Herselle Krinsky: Europe's Synagogues - Architecture, History and Significance . Fourier, Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 3-925037-89-6 .
- Katrin Keßler: Space and rite of the synagogue . Imhof, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-208-6 .
