Brace yourself, long story

more then 17 years ago I was freshly out of high school, my father had just become a Gabai* for that year. I pointed out to a fellow Gabai that from the women's gallery one can see rotting candy on the Aron Kodesh (Torah ark**), candy thrown by women on Bar Mitzvah boys as they, for the first time in there life read publicly from the Torah (not all of us have good aim, and we don't always hit the boy...) the Gabai said, not trying to be funny:"but only the women can see it...."which made my ears smoke....so from then until about a year ago I took it upon myself to be in-charge of the women's gallery.
I was amused to see that even in the fancy Synagogue in Holland, the top of the Aron Kodesh was filthy...
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*A Gabbai (Hebrew: גבאי‎) (or sometimes: Shamash שמש) is a person who assists in the running of a synagogue and ensures that the needs are met, for example the Jewish prayer services run smoothly, or an assistant to a rabbi (particularly the secretary or personal assistant to a Hassidic Rebbe). A gabbai's obligations might also include maintaining a Jewish cemetery.

In many synagogues the gabbai is not a permanent job like the one described above but rather a role in the Torah service. The gabbai is responsible for calling congregants up to the Torah; in some synagogues, the gabbai stands next to the Torah reader, holding a version of the text with vowels and trop markings (which are not present in the actual Torah scroll), following along in order to correct the reader if he makes an error (e.g., mispronounces a word, or skips a word). In others, this is separated out into the role of sgan סגן.

The word "gabbai" is Aramaic and, in Talmudic times, meant collector of taxes or charity, or treasurer.[1]

In Judaism, the term "beadle" (in Hebrew: shamash or "sexton") is sometimes used for the gabbai, the caretaker or "man of all work," in a synagogue. Moshe the Beadle, the caretaker of a synagogue in Sighet in the 1940s, is an important character in 'Night' by Elie Wiesel.

In Anglo-Jewry, Gabbonim are usually referred to as Wardens. In some synagogues wardens wear top hats.
One authoritative, published work that will be helpful to gabbais is Yad LaTorah: Laws and Customs of the Torah Service - A Guide for Gabba'im and Torah Readers by Kenneth Goldrich, edited by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly.
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**The Torah ark or ark in a synagogue (Jewish house of worship) is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim.[1] It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls (Sifrei Torah in Hebrew). In most cases, when possible, the ark is located on the wall of the synagogue closest to Jerusalem.

Contents [hide]
1 Origin of the names
1.1 Aron Kodesh
1.2 Hekhál
2 Placement and structure
3 Gallery
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Origin of the names



Bnei Brak, Israel
[edit]Aron Kodesh
Aron Kodesh comes from Hebrew אָרוֹן קׄדֶש ʼārōn kodeš (i.e. aron kodesh), Holy Ark. This name is a reference to the aron ha-kodesh, the Hebrew name for the Ark of the Covenant which was stored in the Holy of Holies in the ancient Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem.

[edit]Hekhál
Hekhál, also written hechal, echal or heichal — and sometimes also Echal Kodesh (mainly amongst Balkan Sephardim) comes from Hebrew הֵיכָל [hēkhāl] ‘palace’, a term which was also used in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem to refer to the inner sanctuary containing the Holy of Holies. The hekhal contained the Menorah, Altar of Incense, and Table of the Showbread.

[edit]Placement and structure



Modena, Italy (1505)
The ark is usually placed on or near that wall of the sanctuary which is facing Jerusalem[2] — in practice often on the East wall, even in many cases where this is not in the direction of Jerusalem, and in some cases also on a seemingly random wall which was seen as architecturally easiest when the synagogue was constructed. In those cases where the ark does not show the direction to Jerusalem, traditional Judaism instructs the worshipper to face the true direction towards Jerusalem in prayers like the Amidah.

In some ancient synagogues, such as the fifth-century synagogue in Susia, the Torah scroll was not placed inside the synagogue at all, but in a room adjacent to it, showing that the sacredness of the synagogue does not come from the ark but from its being a house of prayer. The Torah was brought in to the synagogue for reading.

Most arks feature a parokhet (curtain). The parokhet can be placed outside the doors of the ark (typical Ashkenazi and Mizrachi custom) or inside the doors of the ark (typical Spanish and Portuguese and Moroccan Sephardi custom).

Some arks are built around a steel safe, which protects the Torah scrolls from fire or theft. Typically, the safe features a combination lock.