bimah

variants or bima
Definition of bimahnext
as in altar
a raised platform in a synagogue from which the Torah is read He stepped up to the bimah for the reading.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bimah The rabbis had asked several members who’d made trips there to talk about their experiences while standing on the bimah, before the Acheinu prayer was read. Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026 We were led by women instead of the all-male cast of rabbis that blanketed the other bimahs across town. Literary Hub, 1 Dec. 2025 Then, Fixler took to the bimah himself. The New York Times News Service Syndicate, The Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2025 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 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bimah
Noun
  • His yearning for Ruben’s approval and fear of his own desires are so acute that, when the show flashes forward to Niall’s wedding again, one half expects to see a woman waiting at the altar.
    Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Today’s Democratic moderates will forever be tarred with the left’s extremism and its willingness to sacrifice the interests of the country on the altar of political expediency.
    Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 16 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Americans are accustomed to hearing biblical terms from the pulpit on Sunday, but these days they're frequently invoked from the Pentagon podium.
    CBS News, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Hundreds of film executives, politicians, media personalities and friends gave a standing ovation as Chaz Ebert, wife of beloved Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, approached the pulpit during his funeral at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.
    Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Bimah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bimah. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.

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