OBJECTS OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL. 547 



The Torah scroll when not in use is kept standing*- upright in a press 

 or wall closet placed slightly above the floor of the nave and reached 

 by steps. As the Torah is in the eyes of the Jew the most sacred and 

 precious object, so is the closet which holds it the most important 

 part of the synagogue. It is called ' ' Holy Ark " {aroii ha hodcxh) , af ten- 

 the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle and Temple, whose plac<' it 

 has taken. The Holy Ark is set in or against that wall of tlie syna- 

 gogue toward which the worshipers turn in the more solemn parts of 

 the liturgy, the wall which is in the direction of Jerusalem. When- 

 ever the Holy Ark is opened, the congregation rises in reverence for 

 the Law of God it holds. Before the Ark is a curtain of costly 

 material, which is named pm^ocheth} after the curtain which in the 

 Tabernacle and the Temple screened the Holy of Holies. 



6. Veil of the Holy Ark. — Made in Smyrna, Asia Minor, of Ijlue 

 silk and richly embroidered in gold, with the inscription in Hebrew, 

 "Portuguese congregation." Measurements, fi feet 3 inches long, 4 

 feet wide. (Plate 4, U.S.N.M. No. 154588.) 



7. Veil of the Holy Ark. — Made, probably in Asia Minor, of 

 vellow silk with silver-lace borders embroidered with flowers in silk, 

 with silver applique work representing vases of flowers supported by 

 columns on either side and a synagogue in the center. A Hebrew 

 inscription in gold applique indicates that the veil was dedicated by 

 Benjamin, Modico, and Solomon Nabaro to the congregation "Talmud 

 Torah " (Study of the Law). Measurements, 5 feet 10 inches long, 

 5 feet 3i inches wide. (Plate 5, U.S.N.M. No. 1286.) 



8. Cover for the reading desk. — Made of yellow silk and em- 

 broidered with flowers in silver and silk. Measurements, 4 by 3 feet. 

 (Plates 6 and 7, U.S.N.M. No. 154806.) When the time arrives for 

 the reading of the Torah, whic^h is about the middle of the service, 

 the scroll is taken out of the Holy Ark and carried in procession, the 

 congregation standing, to the hhixi (from the Greek fivi^a) or almemer 

 (corrupted from the Arabic cd-'inh)l>(n\ pulpit). This is a table or desk 

 standing upon a raised platform, upon which the scroll is unrolled 

 (Plate 6). This table or desk is covered with a costly cloth similar to 

 the curtain of the Holy Ark. 



9. Silver pointer {yad). — Made in Morocco in the seventeenth 

 century. Length, 11^ inches. (Plate 1, fig. 2, U.S.N.M. No. 158347.) 

 The pointer, usually terminating in the shape of a hand, hence called 

 \!ad (hand), is used at the public reading of the Torah to guide the 

 reader (Jxial qore) of the lesson and prevent him from losing the place 

 in the scroll. 



10. Silver pointer.— Length, Hi inches. (Plate 1, fig. 3, U. S. N.M. 

 No. 154808.) 



1 Compare Report of the IT. S. National Museum for 1896, p. 994 and Plate 16. 



