Bimah

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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 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.

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.

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.