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Terminology: The amud is a lectern located at the front of the shul. The bimah is a raised "platform" from where the Torah is read. It is usually located in the center of the shul. Some Sefardim and Yemenite shuls only have a bimah and no amud, and the bimah is in the back of the shul.

One reason I have heard for using the amud is that the chazzan should not daven from a high place in keeping with the phrase from Psalms (130:1) "Out of the depths have I called you, G-d".

My question, thus, relates only to Ashkenazic shuls. I've seen several shuls where the Chazzan davens from the bimah, regularly, and many do not have an amud. Is this permissible?

DanF
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  • <> - That is wrong the bimah MUST be in the middle of the shul not in the back. – RibbisRabbiAndMore Jun 07 '18 at 21:37
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    @RibbisRabbiAndMore, the Romaniote schul in NYC has it against the back wall. Many Sephardi schuls do have the teba (bimah) farther back than in Ashkenazi schuls – Noach MiFrankfurt Jun 07 '18 at 22:20
  • When the Rambam records the laws germane to the proper construction of a shul, he mentions that a shul should have a raised platform in the middle, which we call the bimah (Hilchos Tefillah 11:3). – RibbisRabbiAndMore Jun 07 '18 at 22:30
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    @RibbisRabbiAndMore It's a lot more complicated than a straight halacha in the Rambam. I might just post a new thread on the topic. – DonielF Jun 07 '18 at 23:37
  • @RibbisRabbiAndMore And I have done so. A lot more complicated than I originally anticipated, and I mostly only dealt with Achronim. That post is here. – DonielF Jun 08 '18 at 00:51
  • @DonielF WOW! Well done! – RibbisRabbiAndMore Jun 08 '18 at 00:56
  • @RibbisRabbiAndMore Like I said, besides the Rambam and Tur, I didn't even touch Rishonim. If I have time at some point I might look at a few others to see if there's any support for the Mechaber in light of almost literally everyone else going against him. – DonielF Jun 08 '18 at 00:58
  • In my shul (UOSH in Houston), the short answer is yes. Before being flooded in Harvey, the shaliach tzibbur davened from both the amud and the bimah, depending on the service. Post flood, where we only have a bimah, the shaliach tzibbur davens all services from the bimah. – Dennis Jun 08 '18 at 14:41
  • @Dennis Who is the rabbi there? "davened from both the amud and the bimah" - In the shul where I grew up, during Yamim Noraim, the shsmash davened Shacharit from the amud, and the chazzan (i.e. professional, "musical" chazzan) davened Musaph from the bimah. Considering that the chazzan had a much more powerful voice than the shamash and that he could be heard easily from the amud, I would think that they should have put Shacharit at the bimah, instead! Perhaps, with the shul's echo, the women were better able to hear the chazzan from the bimah. – DanF Jun 08 '18 at 14:56
  • @DanF Rabbi Barry Gelman. Preflood, preshabbos mincha amud, kabbalah shabbos bimah, shabbos maariv amud, shabbos day pezuka dezimra, shachris, amud, shabbos musaf bimah, shabbos mincha amud, motzaei shabbos maariv amud. Similar for yomtov. As I said, depended on the service. – Dennis Jun 08 '18 at 18:50
  • @Dennis Don't think that I know Rav Gelman. Sounds logical, actually. In line with what I've stated in my previous comment. Kabbalat Shabbat from the bimah is a common minhag that stems from demonstrating that it is considered separate from the rest of the service, i.e., Ma'ariv. I may ask a separate question as to why this minhag began. – DanF Jun 08 '18 at 19:48

2 Answers2

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According to Shulchan Aruch (OC 90:1), the Chazzan may stand on an elevated area to daven if his intention is that the congregation be able to hear him.

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Chazan’s Place In Shul

Rabbi Moshe Leib Halberstadt (Source: Chazan’s Place In Shul)

Question: Where should the Chazan stand in Shul and where should you read the Torah from? What is the source?

Answer:

The Sephardic custom is that the Chazan stands on the raised platform in the center of the Shul. This custom appears in Sefer Hamanhig who explains that it is based on the Talmud Succah 51b. The Talmud describes that in the Shul of Alexandria, Egypt there was a wooden raised platform in the middle and the Chazan stood on it, and when it was time to answer Amen, they would wave with a cloth do to the huge size of the Shul.

The Ashkenazi custom is that the Chazan stands in front of the Amud near the Holy Ark. The custom should not be changed and the Chazan should not stand on the raised platform in the middle of the Shul unless it is an unusual case were there are very many people, and the Chazan will not be heard if he does not stand at the Bimah. This custom appears in the Tur and is explained at length in Igrot Moshe.

The Magen Avraham writes that nowadays the custom is that the place were the Chazan stands is lower than the rest of the Shul, because of “Mima’amakim Kraticha Hashem”, and that is the reason the Chazan is always called “Yored Lifnei Hateivah” [goes down in front of the Teivah]. This Halachah is also quoted by the Misnah Berurah, but nevertheless the Igrot Moshe explains that the custom in most places is not like the Magen Avraham but like the Shulchan Aruch and Rema that don’t require a low place.

The custom of all is that during the reading of the Torah the Ba’al Kore stands at the elevated Bimah in the center of the Shul. This custom appears in the Rema, and the Biur Halacha adds that it is an ancient custom that is explained in the Rambam and the Tur, and the source is in Succah 51b as the Gra wrote. Unfortunately this ancient custom was breached in some places, where they started placing the Bimah near the Holy Ark, because they wanted to follow the way of the idol worshipers, as they do in their temples. The latest Poskim spoke against these people at length.

mbloch
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RibbisRabbiAndMore
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