Glossary

The entries selection comes from the book “Dictionary of Judaica” (2005), which was written by a group of authors led by Eva Kosáková . Entries were further processed by Jaroslav Kuntoš, Dana Veselská, Olga Sixtová, Michaela Scheibová and Lenka Uličná. The book can be purchased at our e-shop.

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Synagogue curtain (Heb. parokhet)

A monumental rectangular textile curtain, often embroidered or otherwise decorated, which hangs over the doors of the Holy Ark in Ashkenazi synagogues. The original parokhet in the Tabernacle separated the Holiest and the Holy Place (Ex 26:31–33) and the parokhet in the Temple of Jerusalem served a similar function. The same principle of separating the holiest place of the Holy Ark from the rest of the synagogue applies to the synagogue curtain. For most of the year a colourful curtain is used, on the High Holidays and Shmini Atzeret this is replaced by a white curtain, and on Tisha be-Av it is completely removed from the Holy Ark as a sign of sorrow at the destruction of the Temple. Dedicatory inscriptions and dates with iconographic symbols (such as the Torah crown, Star of David, lion and deer) are popular adornments to the synagogue curtain. In the decoration of curtains during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, use was made of the so-called ‘portal composition’ which involved two columns with capitals and a intricately decorated central field. This stylization was probably a reflection of the ornamentation of the Temple of Jerusalem; the columns were meant to symbolize the front columns of the Sanctuary, while the central field probably represented the actual Temple curtain. According to well-known sources, special emphasis was placed on the rarity and expensiveness of its fabric. Sometimes, the synagogue curtain is provided with little metal bells, whose ringing indicates the moment the curtain is drawn aside and the Holy Ark is opened.

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