Why is bimah so important to Jews?

Answer 1

The bimah (or bema) is the raised platform from which the Torah is read in a synagogue. It is a standard feature of synagogues, but not so essential that you could say it is "so important to Jews." It is useful, however, for the reader to be elevated where everyone there can see and hear the reader.

Answer 2

The word bima or bimah refers to a raised platform from which a speaker speaks. The word is legitimately as much Greek as Hebrew, but in a synagogue, the bimah is the raised platform from which the Torah is read. It is elevated simply so that everyone can see and hear the reader over the heads of the congregation, and it always has a reading table on it so that the Torah scroll can be unrolled enough to read. Modern synagogues are frequently built following the basilica model, with the bimah in front, but in older Ashkenazic synagogues, the bimah is almost always in the center of the congregation, with seating in the round, while in older Sephardic synagogues, the bimah is in back. In both of these older styles, the reader faces the front of the sanctuary while reading.