Obj. ID: 39387
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Torah ark curtain, Tehran (Teheran), 1952

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

The parochet (Hebrew: פרוכת) is the curtain that covers the Aron Kodesh (Torah Ark) containing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue. The parochet symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant, based on Exodus 40:21. "He brought the ark into the Tabernacle and placed the screening dividing curtain so that it formed a protective covering before the Ark..."

Decorated textiles were often produced in Iran by wood block printing. This very large torah curtain was produced in Iran in 1952 using this technique. The dominant feature is the large Shiviti menorah with the 67th psalm in the very center. The decorative scheme has produced a very pleasing textile in large dimensions with an elaborate dedication inscription. Many of the floral and decorative motifs are typically Persian, but some, such as the Magen David with the word Tzion in the center, are specifically Jewish. The ark in front of which the Parochet hung must have quite large, indicating perhaps the large size of the synagogue itself in Teheran, which was the location of the largest concentration of Jews in Iran at the time. There is another Iranian Parochet with wood block work in the Gross Family Collection, 049.015.003.

Inscription: Various Biblical Texts....... Mizmor le-David Adonai Me Yagur....... Personal dedication: This was dedicated for the eternal rest of Menash ben Yosef Shantba within the waters of the city of Teheran on the first day of Shabbat, the 20th day of the month of Nisan in the year 5708 to the creation of the world. Finished in the month of Sivan in the year 5712 [1952]