Parochet

For the original parochet in the Tabernacle, see Holy of Holies § Tabernacle.

A parochet (Hebrew: פרוכת, romanized: parôkheth; Yiddish: פרוכת, romanized: paroykhes), meaning "curtain" or "screen",^[1] is the curtain that covers the Torah ark (Aron Kodesh) containing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue.

Parochet on a mobile ark at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

The parochet symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant, based on Exodus 40:21: "Then he put up the curtain for screening, and screened off the Ark of the Pact—just as יהוה had commanded Moses."^[2]

In most synagogues, the parochet which is used all year round is replaced during the High Holy Days with a white one.

The term parochet is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the main hall (Hebrew: היכל, romanized: hekhal)^[3] of the Temple in Jerusalem. Its use in synagogues is a reference to the centrality of the Temple to Jewish worship.

The Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem houses the oldest surviving parochet, dating to 1572.^[4]

Gallery

• 
  Parochet of the Synagoge in Mühlhausen
• 
  Original parochet from Great Lublin Maharshal's Synagogue from 1926, today in Bielsko-Biała synagogue, Poland
• 
  Early-17th-century parochet from Cairo, Egypt
• 
  1698 linen and silk parochet from Venice, Italy
• 
  Parochet in the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem
• 
  Parochet from 1797, Jewish Museum of Switzerland.
• 
  Parochet in the Synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway

References

1. Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491
2. "Exodus 40:21". www.sefaria.org.
3. Stinespring W. F. (1962) 'Temple, Jerusalem' in 'The interpreters Dictionary of the Bible' vol 4 p 536
4. Jewish Italian Heritage Lives On in Jerusalem