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431 Almeida

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

431

section in Dcut. xxxi. 10. 11 (Sotoli. Mish.vii. 8). The Alexandrian synagogues, alsn. had a wooden beina In Ijolli passages cited in the center (.Suk. oli).

I^sbi explains the word

"bema"as "our

alnieni-

Almemar

various arrangements of railings or balustrades with lamps on the corner-posts. As a rule, wood is the material employed; but there are instances where marble and bronze are used. The desk is covered

with rich drapery. In the older synagogues, and in most orthodo.x ones, the position of the Almemar is invariably either in the center of the building or further back nearer the entrance. The space between it and the Ark is left open and entirely free of seats. Recently, however, the custom of combining the Almemar with the Ark has become general. The advantage of this is obvious: first, the service is not interrupted secondly, a much larger area is secured for seats. So while tradition demands that the Almemar should stand by itself in the center of the floor, the practical necessity of a larger seating capacity has oeca.sioned the adoption of the newer arrangement in the great niajority of modern synagogues. At first the com;

bination was made by simply moving the Almemar regulation form to a jiosition immediately in front of the Ark. In this position, however.'the reader could not face the congregation. Consequently the logical development of this scheme has resulted in enlarging the platform upon which the Ark rests, giving it capacity enough for the readingdesk and the jiulpit. which latter is a separate structure often placed in front of the reading-desk on a slightly lower level. In many of the Paris synagogues, and in the larger ones in New York, a fine decorative composition is the result of the coml)iuation of the Ark and Alin its

So-called " Cbair of

Moses "

In

Synagopue at

Kal-Fung-F"ii,

China. (From " Jew. Qiurt. R»t.")

In J. Weil's "Rcsponsji," p. 147. it is called "altar" (see Berliner, " Ausdeni Lcben d. Deutscben Juden," 2d ed., p. 116, in which attention is calle<l bra."

"Or

5^irim"," ii. 21. which latter, in turn, desigalso by the name " Kalheder "). This term, however, goes" further back. In " Hev. ftt. Jiiives." xxxiv. 290, Bacher calls attention to the Kinnp HB'DT ("chair of Moses") mentioned by Aim. the

to

nates

it

amora of the fourth century, in Pesik. cd. Biibcr, "ih (see Esther H. to 2 and J^x. U. xliii. Bacher compares it with "the seat of Moses" in Matt, xxiii. 2. Under the same name, "the seat of Moses," an Almemar has been found bv Father Gozani among the Jews of China, at Kait^ing-Fu. It was described by him as "a large elevated seat in the middle of the synagogue, from which the Torah is read each Sabbath day" (see Mayer Sid/.berger, Palestinian

i.

memar. The synagogue in Munich is another example of this; and by the ise of different levels and the arrangement of steps and balustrades great impressiveness and architectural interest are attained. In the Florence synagogue, where the Almemar is near the Ark. no innovations are ma<le except as constructed of richly inlaid which are of bronze, rest on a base of marble similar to that used for the floor and for the steps of the Ark, The pulpit is an into

its

position.

wood; and the

It

is

railings,

dependent structure, entirely separate, and is |)laced against one of the piers at the side of the building.

).

"Hev. fit. Juivcs." XXXV. 110). Kegarding the (|Ueslion whether the Almemar

must be

in the center of the svnagogtie or not tab authorilies dilTer. .^faimonides. "Yad haHazaljiah " (Tetillah. xi. !!), Jacob Asheri. and Mo.ses Isserles ("Orah Ilayyim." 55 b">0, T)) hold the aflirin ative view, folhiwing Suk. 52A; while Joseph Karo In " Kesef Mishnch" to .Maimonides. and all modern nibbis, with a few exceptions, hold the negative. Bini.lOfillAIMIV LtiiiKilcl I/.w. /((i/./lilll|>[M>n. S.

SK'ln, Siiloimin. Shirlrikii, iind ZliwiT, all In fuvur of pliulnif Alnit'inur near tbi' Ark.

1,.

llii-

Almemar of Synugotrm (tr.,..i

,i;

._.;

,.,

!.,.-,^,,.:.



,

.uiiJ.

B>r«n, " KIIU Stow.")

K.

Architecturally Considered: The Almemar is generally ii-claiigiilar in form, but sometimes the front or back is curved, The sides are open and are approached by st<'pa, never less than three in num In-r and sometimes more: and tlu-re are to be found

The Aliminar in the Jewish synagogue Fung Fu in China — tin- ohlcst of which

at

Kai-

there is any knowledge was a simple desk with the sides ixtended and the whoh' placed on a circular platform, A. W. B

—