Bimah Cover

Bimah and bimah cover. Museum at Eldridge Street, New York. Bimah and bimah cover. Museum at Eldridge Street, New York.

A bimah (Hebrew; pl. bimot; also called an almemor, almemmer or an almemmor) is an elevated platform in the centre of a synagogue. It is used when reading from the Torah, the Jewish holy book. When not in use, the bimah is frequently covered with a decorative cloth, the bimah cover, which is often embellished with metal thread embroidery.

The square bimah covers can vary in size from 100 to 200 cm, depending on the size of the bimah and the occasion when it is being used. A bimah cover may be made of a variety of materials, with a preference for rich forms of cloth, such as satin or velvet. Often there is an embroidered inscription (normally in Hebrew) in the centre that gives information about who presented the cover and why. Bimahs, for example, may be presented to a synagogue in order to celebrate a bar mitzvah (a boy’s coming of age ceremony) or used during particular Jewish festivals, such as Yom Kippur, although other local or national events may also be celebrated.

See also: Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee Bimah cover.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Sunday, 04 September 2016 13:27