bimah
noun
bi·mah ˈbē-mə 
variants or less commonly bima
: a raised platform in a synagogue from which the Torah is read
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Half was hidden in a safe under the bimah of a synagogue so that even the Germans could not find it. 
New York Times, 4 May 2022 On the bimah, Charlotte has shown her maturity — proving it even to herself. Kate Aurthur, Variety, 4 Feb. 2022 Excavations led by a joint Israeli and Lithuanian team uncovered the Torah ark, or Aron Kodesh—the cabinet that holds a synagogue’s sacred scroll—and the bimah, or raised prayer platform. Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Aug. 2021 The team also found the entire façade of the bimah, as well as the remains of one of four pillars that held up the building’s roof. Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Aug. 2021 The young man orders the bar-mitzvah boy off the bimah. Peter Orner, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2021 As worshippers exited the sanctuary, Repp would make his way to the bimah – the pulpit – and stand alone near the ark holding the Torahs. Robert Wilonsky, Dallas News, 14 Jan. 2020 Rows of tables and plastic chairs face an ornate wooden pulpit, or bimah. Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019 The boy had been halfway up the bleachers just to the right of the bimah. Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019 See More
New York Times, 4 May 2022 On the bimah, Charlotte has shown her maturity — proving it even to herself. Kate Aurthur, Variety, 4 Feb. 2022 Excavations led by a joint Israeli and Lithuanian team uncovered the Torah ark, or Aron Kodesh—the cabinet that holds a synagogue’s sacred scroll—and the bimah, or raised prayer platform. Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Aug. 2021 The team also found the entire façade of the bimah, as well as the remains of one of four pillars that held up the building’s roof. Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Aug. 2021 The young man orders the bar-mitzvah boy off the bimah. Peter Orner, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2021 As worshippers exited the sanctuary, Repp would make his way to the bimah – the pulpit – and stand alone near the ark holding the Torahs. Robert Wilonsky, Dallas News, 14 Jan. 2020 Rows of tables and plastic chairs face an ornate wooden pulpit, or bimah. Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019 The boy had been halfway up the bleachers just to the right of the bimah. Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Yiddish & Late Hebrew; Yiddish bime, from Late Hebrew bīmāh, from Late Greek bēma raised platform — more at bema
First Known Use
1941, in the meaning defined above
bimahs
noun
variants or bimas
as in altars
a raised platform in a synagogue from which the Torah is read He stepped up to the bimah for the reading. Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- altars
- pulpits
- footpaces
- platforms
- podiums
- risers
- balconies
- scaffolds
- stands
- stages
- rostra
- rostrums
- galleries
- daises
- podia
- tribunes