Obj. ID: 10946
Jewish Architecture  Ades Synagogue in Jerusalem - Heichal

To the main object: Ades Synagogue in Jerusalem - Interior

The wooden Torah Ark, comprising three units, extends along the east wall of the synagogue. Each unit consists of an ark with two doors, flanked by wings.  The arks are topped by gables with wavy edges. 

The central unit is wider than the two others. Its wings stick out at 45-degree angles to the central door and form a trapezoidal protrusion into the space. The central ark is topped by the largest gable, which terminates with a circular apex. Additional gables surmount the central ark’s wings.

Two twisted columns flank the central ark. Each is supported by a vase and surmounted by a tower-shaped capital. The capital is topped by a spindle-shaped finial, which holds aloft a Star of David. The central gable is decorated with the Tables of the Covenant, inscribed with the first two words of each of the Ten Commandments: five on each side (Exodus 20 1-14). The third and the fourth Commandments are interchanged. The circular apex surmounts the central gable and bears radiating openwork surrounding the Tetragrammaton "יהוה" (YHVH) “the Lord” in the center.

Two inscriptions in square, filled letters are set on the top of the arks.

 Over the top of the central ark it reads:

"דע לפני מי אתה עומד לפני ממ''ה (מלך מלכי המלכים) הקב''הו (הקדוש ברוך הוא)" (שילוב של משנה, אבות ג א, ד כב; תלמוד בבלי, ברכות כח ע''ב)

“Know before whom you are standing: before the supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. (compilation of Mishnah, Avot 3:1, 4:22; B.T. Ber. 28b)

The second inscription begins over the top of the right ark and continues over the top of the left ark, it reads:

"וירא ויאמר מה נורא המקום הזה אין זה/ כי אם בית אלהים וזה שער השמים" (בראשית כח יז)

“And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other \ but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen.28:17, (K.J.))

The entire Torah ark is composed of five horizontal registers, which extend along the length of the ark. The lowest register is unadorned. Each one of four upper registers consists of rectangular panels bearing various floral and geometrical motifs within three concentric rectangular frames. An ivory star is inlaid in the center of each panel.

A band of a shubbak pattern runs along the upper register. A similar pattern frames the panels of the register under it.

The central ark’s doors are decorated differently from the side ark’s doors.

Each panel of the central doors has a rhombus in its center. The rhombuses on the three upper registers are framed by four bands which extend in four directions, creating a pivoting form. The bands of the second and the third registers from the bottom are oriented clockwise, while the bands of the upper register are set in the opposite direction. The panels of the third register from the bottom bear wider bands comprising a shubbak pattern.

The side ark’s doors are identical to each other in shape and decoration. The two lower registers are the same as the corresponding registers of the central ark’s doors. Each panel of the third register from the bottom depicts an arch within a rectangular frame. The arch consists of two ribbed doors mounted over two rosettes. The upper register bears panels with concentric squares.

 All the wings, except the outermost ones which are narrower, are decorated similarly. The lowest register of the central ark’s wings depicts three small arches supported by cylindrical tapering columns, while the side ark’s wings have only two arches. The panels of the second register from the bottom of all the wings, except the outermost ones, are decorated with an open eight-petalled flower, while the outermost  wings bear a rhombus with curved facets. The third register from the bottom depicts rhombuses within horizontal rectangles. An open flower with four onion-shaped petals appears in the center of the upper register’s panels.

The concentric rectangles, which frame all the panels, are decorated. The inner frame bears a geometrical pattern of two folded bands, forming rhombuses. The central one is decorated with a scrolled branch, while the outermost one has two variations: an interlaced foliate scroll at the doors and an interlaced geometrical motif decorated with a floral pattern at the wings. Both of such frames also flank the entire central ark.