Parochet

{{Short description|Curtain that covers the Torah Ark in a synagogue}}

{{For|the original parochet in the Tabernacle|Holy of Holies#Tabernacle}}

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File:Western_Wall_1841_(499751900).jpg in Jerusalem]]

A parochet ({{langx|he|פרוכת|translit=parôkheth}}; {{langx|yi|פרוכת|translit=paroykhes}}), meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that covers the Torah ark (Aron Kodesh) containing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue.

The parochet symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant, based on {{bibleverse|Exodus|40:21}}: "Then he put up the curtain for screening, and screened off the Ark of the Pact—just as יהוה had commanded Moses."{{cite web |title=Exodus 40:21 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.40.21?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}

In most synagogues, the parochet which is used all year round is replaced during the High Holy Days with a white one.

The term parochet is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the main hall ({{langx|he|היכל|translit=hekhal}})Stinespring W. F. (1962) 'Temple, Jerusalem' in 'The interpreters Dictionary of the Bible' vol 4 p 536 of the Temple in Jerusalem. Its use in synagogues is a reference to the centrality of the Temple to Jewish worship.

The Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem houses the oldest surviving parochet, dating to 1572.[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3158382,00.html Jewish Italian Heritage Lives On in Jerusalem]