Tas

Tas, or Torah shield, is one of the ornaments placed on the scroll. The custom of using it on the Torah stemmed from a Talmudic regulation forbidding rolling the Torah scrolls in the synagogue due to the unnecessary waste of time. The copies of the Torah therefore had to be prepared for the readings a day in advance. In order not to make a mistake and take out the right scroll, they were marked with badges. With time, these signs became more and more decorative, turning into true works of art. The majority of these had a small lockbox at the bottom, which was used to house badges with the names of holidays, used to mark the scroll. The tas has a rectangular lockbox with 7 badges inside. It is closed with a sliding frame that holds the badges, allowing the user to read the labels. They are engraved in Hebrew with the names of the holidays: “szbth”, “psch”, “szweuth”, “skuth”, “rsz hsznh”, “szbth rejh”, “Jum kpur”. There are also examples of tas without lockboxes, with only the name of the holiday engraved on them, or without any such information at all. In most cases, the central composition on the tas is flanked on the sides by two columns – Jachin and Boaz, with a crown supported by two lions at the top. Joanna Kluz