Tevah (reader's desk)

In order to read from the Torah in the synagogue, the scrolls are placed on a wooden desk or stand, called the tevah. An unusual feature of this rare Yemenite tevah is the bench that could be drawn out for little boys to stand on. In Yemen, Jewish boys began to receive religious instruction at the age of about three and already read from the Torah and were active participants in the service before they reached adolescence.

Credit: Purchased through the gift of Florence and Sylvain J. Sternberg, Jerusalem