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Ark (synagogue)

 
Ark (synagogue)

 
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Ark (synagogue)
 
 
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The Ark or Torah Ark in a synagogue
Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
 (Jewish
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 house of worship) is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 scrolls (Sifrei Torah
Sefer Torah

A Sefer Torah is a specially hand-written copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, which is the holiest book within Judaism and venerated by Jews. It must meet extremely strict standards of production....
 in Hebrew). In most cases, when possible, the Ark is located on the wall of the synagogue closest to Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, considered the holiest spot in the world by Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
.
Kodesh comes from Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 ?????? ?????? ?aron kodeš (i.e.






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The Ark or Torah Ark in a synagogue
Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
 (Jewish
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 house of worship) is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 scrolls (Sifrei Torah
Sefer Torah

A Sefer Torah is a specially hand-written copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, which is the holiest book within Judaism and venerated by Jews. It must meet extremely strict standards of production....
 in Hebrew). In most cases, when possible, the Ark is located on the wall of the synagogue closest to Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, considered the holiest spot in the world by Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
.

Origin of the names


Aron Kodesh

Aron Kodesh comes from Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 ?????? ?????? ?aron kodeš (i.e. aron kodesh), "Holy Ark". This name is a reference to the aron ha-kodesh, the Hebrew name for the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a sacred container, where in rested the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and manna....
 which was stored in the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies

The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which referred to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem which could be entered only by the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur....
 in the ancient Tabernacle
Tabernacle

The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew language as the Mishkan . It was a portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan....
 and the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a The Third Temple features in Jewish eschatology....
.

Hekhál

Hekhál, also written hechal, echal or heichal — and sometimes also Echal Kodesh (mainly amongst Balkan Sephardim) comes from Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 ?????? [hekhal] ‘palace’, a term which was also used in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a The Third Temple features in Jewish eschatology....
 to refer to the inner sanctuary containing the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies

The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which referred to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem which could be entered only by the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur....
. The things placed inside it are only very very religious and important things.

Placement and structure

The Ark is usually placed on or near that wall of the sanctuary which is facing Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
 — in practice often on the East wall, even in many cases where this is not in the direction of Jerusalem, and in some cases also on a seemingly random wall which was seen as architecturally easiest when the synagogue was constructed. In those cases where the ark does not show the direction to Jerusalem, traditional Judaism instructs the worshipper to face the true direction towards Jerusalem in prayers like the Amida
Amida

Amida can mean:*Amitabha, an important Buddha in East Asian Buddhism*Amida , a beetle genus*Amidah, the central prayer of the Jewish services...
.

In ancient synagogues, such as the fifth-century synagogue in Susia, the torah scroll was not placed inside the synagogue at all, but in a room adjacent to it, showing that the sacredness of the synagogue does not come from the ark but from its being a house of prayer. The Torah was brought in to the synagogue for reading.

Most Arks feature a parokhet (curtain). The parokhet can be placed outside the doors of the Ark (typical Ashkenazi and Mizrachi
Mizrachi

The terms Mizrachi and Mizrahi is used in references to a few things:*Mizrachi , a religious Zionist movement*Mizrachi and Hapoel HaMizrachi, defunct Israeli political parties...
 custom) or inside the doors of the Ark (typical Spanish and Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
 and Moroccan Sephardi custom).

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