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Whenever the scroll is opened to be read it is laid on a piece of cloth called the mappah. When the Torah scroll is carried through the synagogue, the members of the congregation may touch the edge of their prayer shawl to the Torah scroll and then kiss the shawl as a sign of respect. As it is important to guard the sanctity of a Torah ...
In some ancient synagogues, such as the fifth-century synagogue in Susya, the Torah scroll was not placed inside the synagogue at all, but in a room adjacent to it, signifying that the sacredness of the synagogue does not come from the ark but from its being a house of prayer. The Torah was brought into the synagogue for reading purposes.
The Torah Ark, called in Hebrew ארון קודש Aron Kodesh [30] or 'holy chest' , and alternatively called the heikhal— היכל or 'temple' by Sephardic Jews, is a cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept. The ark in a synagogue is almost always positioned in such a way such that those who face it are facing towards Jerusalem. [30]
Torah scrolls are often dressed with a sash, a special Torah cover, various ornaments, and a keter (crown), although such customs vary among synagogues. Congregants traditionally stand in respect when the Torah is brought out of the ark to be read, while it is being carried, and lifted, and likewise while it is returned to the ark, although ...
Parochet on a mobile ark at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. A parochet (Hebrew: פרוכת, romanized: parôkheth; Yiddish: פרוכת, romanized: paroykhes), meaning "curtain" or "screen", [1] is the curtain that covers the Torah ark (Aron Kodesh) containing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue.
Navigating road closures to rescue Torah scrolls . Berman Harris — along with her husband, another congregant and a custodian — managed to get the Torah scrolls into their cars and whisked away to safety before the synagogue was engulfed in flames Tuesday night. “It’s the heartbeat of any Jewish community,” she said of the Torah.
The Torah scroll is stored in an ornamental cabinet, called a holy ark (aron kodesh), designed specifically for Torah scrolls. The Holy Ark is usually found in the front of the sanctuary, and is a central element of synagogue architecture.
Due to the high prices of Torah scrolls (typically over $10,000), [6] it is difficult for many people to have a Torah scroll in their possession. Therefore, rabbis such as Moshe Feinstein ordered that anyone who does not have enough money is released from the mitzvah. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein rules that it is forbidden to spend more than a tenth ...