A ''parochet'' (; ), meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that covers the

Torah ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

(''Aron Kodesh'') containing the

Torah scrolls A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

in a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. The ''parochet'' symbolizes the curtain that covered the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...

, based on : "Then he put up the curtain for screening, and screened off the Ark of the Pact—just as יהוה had commanded Moses." In most synagogues, the parochet which is used all year round is replaced during the

High Holy Days In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

with a white one. The term ''parochet'' is used in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Holy of Holies The Holy of Holies ( or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also ''hadDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where the Shekhinah (God in Judaism, God's presence) appeared. According ...

from the main hall ()Stinespring W. F. (1962) 'Temple, Jerusalem' in 'The interpreters Dictionary of the Bible' vol 4 p 536 of the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

. Its use in synagogues is a reference to the centrality of the Temple to Jewish worship. The Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

houses the oldest surviving ''parochet'', dating to 1572.Jewish Italian Heritage Lives On in Jerusalem
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Gallery

File:Mühlhausen Thüringen Synagoge 90194.JPG, ''Parochet'' of the Synagoge in Mühlhausen File:Parochet Bielsko - pochodzacy z synagogi Maharszala.jpg, Original ''parochet'' from Great

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Maharshal's Synagogue from 1926, today in Bielsko-Biała synagogue, Poland File:Parochet (torah curtain) with Hebrew inscription from Psalms CXVIII-20, Egypt, Cairo, Ottoman Empire, early 1600s, wool - Textile Museum, George Washington University - DSC09735.JPG, Early-17th-century ''parochet'' from Cairo, Egypt File:Leah Ottolenghi - Torah Ark Curtain - Google Art Project.jpg, 1698 linen and silk ''parochet'' from Venice, Italy File:Hurva Synagogue P1140558.JPG, ''Parochet'' in the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem File:Parochet from 1797.jpg, ''Parochet'' from 1797, Jewish Museum of Switzerland. File:Synagogue curtain.jpg, ''Parochet'' in the Synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway

References

{{reflist Synagogue architecture Jewish ritual objects

Gallery

See also

References