At the left is a schematic diagram of the bima of a synagogue, drawn to include the many aspects of synagogue life.
You can click on the diagram to read explanations of the people and objects, and their meaning for Jewish communal life, below.
The text below will also refer you to other sections of the this website which provide more extensive information.
In addition, you may click here to view actual photographs of synagogue sanctuaries to see the elements you learned about on this page.