Yad
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A yad (
Rationale
Beyond its practical usage in pointing out letters, the yad ensures that the parchment is not touched during the reading. There are several suggested reasons for this, including the mistaken idea that the fragile parchment is easily damaged by skin oils. However, the reason provided by the Talmud and other aspects of Jewish tradition state that the original reason was related to ritual purity.[1][2]
While not required when chanting from the Torah, a yad is used frequently and is considered a hidur mitzvah ("embellishment of the commandment") of reading the Torah.
Manufacture
A yad can be made of any number of materials, though silver is common,[3] especially used in crowning the yad.
Mountain Jews
The
From the inscriptions on the pointers, one may deduce a specific ritual of Mountain Jews: before reading, the Torah is displayed to the congregation and the pointer indicated to it as a conceptual parallel to the guiding hand of God.[4]
There are a number of different names for the pointer used by the Mountain Jews, indicating the variety of traditions. Most common ones are etzba (
See also
References
- ^ "Can't Touch This! Why Should We Not Touch Sifrei Torah? And How Should We Touch Them if We Must? | Sefaria". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ "Yad". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ "Yad | Torah, Talmud, Scroll | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ ISBN 9652783153, Section "Poointers": pp. 57-63