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A bema is an elevated platform used as an orator's podium. The term can refer to the raised area in a sanctuary. In Jewish , where it is used for Torah reading during services, the term used is bima or bimah.
By metonymy, bema was also a place of judgement, being the extension of the raised seat of the judge, as described in the New Testament, in and , and further, as the seat of the Roman emperor, in , and of God, in , when speaking in judgment.
In antiquity, the bima was made of stone, but in modern times it is usually a rectangular wooden platform approached by steps. Britannica Concise Encyclopædia: "bema"
As in the Temple, the synagogal bima is typically elevated by two or three steps. A raised bima will generally have a railing. This was a religious requirement for safety in bima more than ten Tefach high, or between . A lower bimah (even one step) will typically have a railing as a practical measure to prevent someone from inadvertently stepping off.
In Orthodox Judaism, the bima is located in the center of the synagogue, separate from the Torah ark. In other branches of Judaism, the bima and the Ark are joined together. Reform Judaism moved the bima close to or around the Torah ark.
At the celebration of Shavuot, when synagogues are decorated with flowers, many synagogues have special arches that they place over the bima and adorn with floral displays.
In Byzantine Rite, Armenian Rite, West Syriac and Alexandrian Rite Rites of Eastern Christianity bema generally remains the name of the platform which composes the sanctuary; it consists of both the area behind the iconostasion and the platform in front of it from which the deacon leads the (litanies) together with the ambo from which the priest delivers the sermon and distributes Holy Communion. It may be approached by one or several steps. The bema is composed of the altar (the area behind the iconostasion), the soleas (the pathway in front of the iconostasion), and the ambo (the area in front of the Holy Doors which projects westward into the nave). Orthodox laity do not normally step up onto the bema except to receive Holy Communion.
Christianity
The ceremonial use of a bema carried over from Judaism into early Christian church architecture. It was originally a raised platform with a lectern and seats for the clergy, from which lection from the were read and the sermon was delivered. In Western Christianity the bema developed over time into the chancel (or presbytery) and the pulpit.
Islam
In Islam, the minbar "pulpit" is a standard furnishing in every congregational mosque. The earliest record of a minbar dates back to between 628 and 631.
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