Kesher Talk

Should The Bimah Be In The Center Of The Synagogue? The synagogues in which I grew up had the "bimah" (altar) at the front of the synagogue, in front of the ark (where the Torah is kept). The classic style is to put the bimah in the center of the synagogue, which is the set up in my current shul, Olam Tikvah. Before this, I had only seen it this way in Europe.

Which is the correct positioning?

The Jewish Press looked at rabbinical interpretations, finding almost all of them coming down in favor of the central location. The only deviation seems to have been granted for small synagogues, but even that raised a furor.

No offense to those more observant than myself... but tough cookies! I'm not going to base my attendence and/or membership in a synagogue on something so trivial and I would be surprised if many others do so either.

posted by Howard @ 1/17/2003 07:07:55 AM