Torah pointer

It is considered improper to touch the Torah scroll and the letters with one’s hand during the reading of the Torah. There are references the use of specific items made for this purpose from the sixteenth century onwards. The most common form of a Torah pointer is a hand with an outstretched pointing finger, made of metal, wood, bone, or nowadays even from glass or plastic. This object is traditionally called by its Hebrew name, yad. This Torah pointer is made of silver, has a four-sided arm, which is divided into two parts by three flat cubes. The sides are all covered with Hebrew inscriptions. According to the inscription on the three cubes, it was made on the order of the leadership of the “Hevra Menuha Nehona”, that is, the “Organization for Peaceful Rest” in 1837.