Question What is a megillah?

Answer The word megillah simply means a scroll. In general use, though, it has attained a specific meaning, namely a scroll containing a handwritten Book of Esther. The megillah is read on Purim, the day celebrating the Jews' deliverance at the time of Mordecai and Esther. The megillah is the only reading - beside the Torah, of course - that must read from a handwritten scroll. An examination of the cross-pollination of languages is the quite frequent use in the United States today of the word, such as in the phrase, "the whole megillah," which simply means the whole story.  

Question What is the bimah?

Answer The bimah is a raised platform, in most cases in the middle of the synagogue, which is set aside for the reading of the Torah scroll, although it is sometimes also used as a stand for the cantor when he leads the prayers. The bimah is also known as the almemar.  

Question What is the aron kodesh?

Answer The translation of the term, "holy ark," tells it all. The aron kodesh, situated at the very front of the synagogue, is the place where all the Torah scrolls are stored when not in use. Traditionally, it has been covered with an embroidered velvet curtain, but nowadays various other materials and methods have been used to close the ark.  

Question What is the ner tamid?

Answer Synagogues generally have a ner tamid ("eternal light") burning just in front of the aron kodesh. This commemorates the oil lamps which were lit daily on the menorah in the Temple, and which burned for 24 hours. This continuously burning lamp symbolized, among others, God's constant care for His people.  

Question What is a mehitzah?

Answer The word mehitzah simply means a partition, and is the term used for the dividing barrier separating the men and women in Orthodox synagogues. The separation of the sexes was already a feature in the Temple, where there was a separate ezrat nashim, or "women's courtyard." According to Jewish law, the sexes must be separated during worship, thus enabling people to concentrate on the prayers rather than on the members of the other sex. In Europe, it was often the practice to have a separate balcony for women, although Jewish law only requires some type of barrier (according to Rabbi Moses Feinstein, the foremost halakhic decisor of our times, this must be at least 60" high, although others have ruled that 40" is sufficient), even if the sexes are on the same level. We may point out that it was the question of "family pews," i.e., of families sitting together, that marked one of the first breaks from Orthodoxy in the other Jewish religious movements.  

Question What is the shofar, and when is it used?

Answer The shofar is a horn, generally that of a ram where available. This is hollowed out and produces a type of musical instrument. The Torah requires that the shofar be blown on Rosh Hashanah, but it is also blown in the month preceding Rosh Hashanah and at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur fast day. In ancient times, the shofar was used to signal groups of people, as, for example, to summon troops to battle, much as a bugle was used in previous centuries.