A parochet (; ), meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that covers the Torah ark ( Aron Kodesh) containing the sefer Torah in a synagogue.
The parochet symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant, based on : "Then he put up the curtain for screening, and screened off the Ark of the Pact—just as tetragrammaton had commanded Moses."
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 ()Stinespring W. F. (1962) 'Temple, Jerusalem' in 'The interpreters Dictionary of the Bible' vol 4 p 536 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. Jewish Italian Heritage Lives On in Jerusalem
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