bimah

noun

bi·​mah ˈbē-mə How to pronounce bimah (audio)
variants or less commonly bima
: a raised platform in a synagogue from which the Torah is read

Examples of bimah in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The flags of the U.S. and Israel will both be displayed on the bimah, or raised platform, at the front of the sanctuary. Frank E. Lockwood, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2023 The discovery this week follows the 2019 unearthing of the Tuscan baroque-style bimah, the synagogue’s central prayer platform, in the same dig by a team of international scholars headed by Jon Seligman, director of the antiquities authority’s Excavations, Surveys and Research Department. Cnaan Liphshiz, sun-sentinel.com, 1 Sep. 2021 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bimah.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of bimah was in 1941

Dictionary Entries Near bimah

Cite this Entry

“Bimah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bimah. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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