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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.〔''Britannica Concise Encyclopædia'': ‘bema’〕 ==Judaism== The ''bimah'' (Hebrew plural: ''bimot'') in synagogues is also known as the ''almemar'' or ''almemor'' among some Ashkenazim〔''almemar'' (), ''Collins English Dictionary''〕 (from the Arabic, ''al-minbar'', meaning ‘platform’〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) )〕). The post-Biblical Hebrew ''bima'' (), ‘platform’ or ‘pulpit’, is either derived from the Biblical Hebrew ''bama'' (), ‘high place’, or else from the Ancient Greek word for a raised platform, ''bema'' (); however, the Ancient Greek ''may'' itself be borrowed from the Semitic root, via Phoenician).〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=According to William Albright. )〕 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 . A lower bimah (even one step) will typically have a railing as a practical measure to prevent someone from inadvertently stepping off. The bimah became a standard fixture in synagogues from which a portion (''parashah'') from the Torah and the haftarah are read. In Orthodox Judaism, the bimah is located in the center of the synagogue, separate from the Ark. In other branches of Judaism, the bimah and the Ark are joined together. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bema」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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