bimah

variants or bima
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 Eleven Jewish teenagers—nine girls and two boys—stand on the bimah around Rabbi Landau who has on thick, black-rimmed glasses. Literary Hub, 12 June 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bimah
Noun
  • Worried that Debrah is secretly pushing her daughter to the altar to pocket the money herself, Madea confronts Tiffany and tells her everything.
    Emily Blackwood, People.com, 14 July 2025
  • As Gladys stands at the altar staring at her new husband, though, The Gilded Age pulls off a most impressive magic trick.
    Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 14 July 2025
Noun
  • Many who spoke with the Herald pointed to recent polling that shows that most Americans want to leave politics out of the pulpit.
    Lauren Costantino Updated July 20, Miami Herald, 20 July 2025
  • Both political parties have tested the line in trying to harness the power of the pulpit, with many Republicans wooing evangelical leaders while Democrats often try to curry favor with Black churches.
    Tiffany Li, ABC News, 15 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Bimah.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bimah. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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