bema

n., pl. -ma·ta (-mə-tə).

1. Judaism. The platform from which services are conducted in a synagogue. Also called almemar.
2. Eastern Orthodox Church. The area of a church in which the altar is located; the sanctuary.

[Ultimately from Greek bēma, step, platform.]

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("rostrum"). An elevated platform with a reader's desk or table from which the Reading of the Law and other liturgical functions are conducted in the Synagogue. Among Ashkenazim, it is known also as the almemar (Arabic aI-minbar, "pulpit" of a mosque) and among Sephardim as the tevah (Heb. "chest" or "box"). Maimonides (Yad, Tefillah 11:3) observes that "the bimah is erected in the middle [of the synagogue] so that congregants may ascend to read from the Torah and so that those delivering [sermons of] reproof may be heard by all." When the case that contains the Torah Scroll (in accordance with Sephardi custom) is set down, it is placed at the center [of the bimah], its rear facing theArk and its front (the side which opens) facing the congregation.

Reading the Torah publicly from a raised structure dates at least from the period of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 8:2-4). The Mishnah (Sot. 7:8) refers to the use of such a platform in Second Temple times and the Talmud (Suk. 51b) speaks of a wooden platform being located in the middle of Alexandria's Great Synagogue.

From medieval times, the reader's platform was the focus of activity in Ashkenazi synagogues. It was placed in the center of the building, so that the reader and preacher might be heard by all the congregation. However, this central positioning was not seen as obligatory, and in Spain and Italy the bimah was often placed at the far end of the synagogue, against the western wall. The relation between the Ark and the platform became a major architectural consideration in synagogue design, evoking an artistic balance. The most striking emphasis on the platform was achieved in East European synagogues, where four large pillars which supported the roof occupied the center of the building, with the reader's platform between them. In some of the oldest Ashkenazi synagogues, the bimah was enclosed within a cage-like structure of wrought iron. In medieval Spain, it was raised on columns high above the worshipers (like the pulpit of a church or mosque), and access was by way of a flight of stairs; the scroll was placed on the surrounding ledge while portions of the Torah were being read. Customs differed as to whether congregants sat between the platform and the Ark or left this space open. In Muslim lands, the tevah was usually in the center, with the congregation sitting around, but in Yemen it was placed close to the Ark and rested on four wooden pillars.

In the 19th century, Reform Judaism moved the bimah forward, combining it with the area in front of the Ark and eliminating a separate structure. While halakhic statements could be found to demonstrate that the platform's exact location was a matter of Custom and not law, Orthodox leaders bitterly opposed the innovation. Any break with established tradition was seen as evidence of the Reform movement's assimilationist policies, and a declaration signed by 100 Orthodox rabbis prohibited worship in any synagogue where the bimah was not located in the center. However, even some modern Orthodox synagogues eventually modified their design in this way, as a space-saving device, and both Reform and almost all Conservative congregations now place the bimah next to the Ark.

In Sephardi synagogues, the ḥazzan (reader) usually conducts all of the service from a central reading desk, and his duties are referred to as "passing before the tevah" (cf. Ber. 5:3). In strictly Orthodox Ashkenazi congregations, much of the service (apart from the Reading of the Law) is conducted from a reader's lectern or ammud placed next to or immediately in front of the Ark, hence the expression "to pray [Yid. Davnen] before the ammud."

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1. A transverse space in a church a few steps above the floor of the nave and aisles, and separating them from the apse.
2. In a synagogue, a raised pulpit from which the Torah (Holy Bible) is read.

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[Co]

The rostrum for public speaking commonly found in a Greek agora.

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