Yad

(lit. "hand"). Pointer used to keep the place when reading from the Scroll of the Law. Direct contact of the hands with the parchment of the scroll was forbidden on the grounds of making them "unclean" (Yad 3:2). Also, as a gesture of respect, the rabbis warned against handling a "bare" Torah scroll (Shab. 14a; see Reading of the Law). It therefore became customary to attach a pointer to the Torah scroll, usually hung on a chain from the roller. The yad as a special ceremonial object is first mentioned in 1570. In Sephardi communities, it is also the custom to point with a cloth or with the fringes of the prayer shawl (Tallit). The yad generally takes the form of a rod or shaft culminating in a "hand" with an outstretched or curled index finger, or sometimes an elongated finger. It can be made of almost any material. In the course of time, it became an object of artistic creativity. Sometimes the pointers are encrusted with semi-precious stones such as coral cuffs and coral finials, bracelets and rings. There are often inscriptions on the yad which are sometimes dedicated to the donor. Others have verses appropriate to the occasion of reading the Torah such as: "The instruction of the Lord is lucid, making the eyes light up" (Ps. 19:9) or "This is the Torah that Moses set before the Israelites" (Deut. 4:44).

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