Bema

The bema — or bima — is an elevated platform. In ancient Athens, it was used as an orator's podium. In synagogues, it is also known as a bimah and is for Torah reading during services. In an Orthodox synagogue, a bema is the raised area around the aron kodesh, or the sanctuary. In antiquity it was made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps.

Judaism

The bimah (Hebrew plural: bimot) in synagogues is also known as the almemar or almemor among some Ashkenazim (from the Arabic, al-minbar, meaning ‘platform’). The post-Biblical Hebrew bima (בּימה), ‘platform’ or ‘pulpit’, is either derived from the Biblical Hebrew bama (בּמה), ‘high place’, or else from the Ancient Greek word for a raised platform, bema (βῆμα); however, the Ancient Greek may itself be borrowed from the Semitic root, via Phoenician). Among the Sephardim, it is known as a tevah (literally ‘box, case’ in Hebrew) or migdal-etz (‘tower of wood’).

It is typically elevated by two or three steps, as was the bimah in the Temple. At the celebration of the Shavuot holiday when synagogues are decorated with flowers, many synagogues have special arches that they place over the bimah and adorn with floral displays. The importance of the bimah is to show that the reader is the most important at that moment in time, and to make it easier to hear their reader of the Torah. A raised bimah will typically have a railing. This was a religious requirement for safety in bimah more than 10 handbreadths high, or between 83 and 127 centimetres (2.72 and 4.17 ft). A lower bimah (even one step) will typically have a railing as a practical measure to prevent someone from inadvertently stepping off.

Bema (disambiguation)

A bema is a ceremonial platform set up in an assembly.

Bema may also refer to:

See also

Bema, Lombardy

Bema is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) northeast of Milan and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Sondrio.

Bema borders the following municipalities: Albaredo per San Marco, Averara, Cosio Valtellino, Gerola Alta, Morbegno, Pedesina, Rasura.

References