Torah Ark Façade from the Tailors’ Guild Synagogue in Hârlău, Romania

The entire Torah Ark in the Tailors’ Guild Synagogue in the city of Hârlău, Romania probably rose to a great height, and included at least three or four stories, as well as wide wings decorated with various carvings. The fragments of the ark’s facade are carved with imaginary animals sprouting out of the foliage and musical instruments symbolizing those used by the Levites in the Holy Temple. In the upper part of the ark are a pair of peacocks, and between them hands poised for the priestly benediction, as well as the emblem of the Kingdom of Moldova, a declaration of allegiance to the local government. On the doors of the ark is the inscription: “Our Father, our King, open the gates of Heaven to our prayer”, which compares the opening of the doors and the removal of the Torah scroll to the opening of the gates of Heaven before the prayers of the faithful. On the cornice above the doors is the inscription: “And you shall make a cover of pure gold” (Exodus 25:17), which emphasizes the connection between the Torah Ark in the synagogue and the Tabernacle and its vessels. The fragments of the ark were gathered and brought to Yad Vashem as part of an operation to gather and rescue artifacts and Judaica remaining in Romania after the war. The parts of the Torah Ark facade of the Tailors’ Guild Synagogue, which stood abandoned in Hârlău, were found scattered and dismantled in the storerooms of another synagogue still operating in the city. The reconstruction and reassembling of the pieces were performed by Yad Vashem’s team of curators and restorers, according to traces of color and nail marks, and with the help of a photograph of a similar Torah Ark in the city.