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Document Details :

Title: Chanting to the Hand
Subtitle: Some Preliminary Observations on the Origins of the Torah Pointer
Author(s): FEUCHTWANGER-SARIG, Naomi
Journal: Studia Rosenthaliana
Volume: 37    Date: 2004   
Pages: 3-35
DOI: 10.2143/SR.37.0.583401

Abstract :
Torah pointers are the most recent addition to the array of ceremonial objects associated with the Torah scroll, beautifying it and enhancing mitzvot in the synagogue. It was long after the introduction of Torah finials and shields, probably in the Greco-Roman period, and subsequent additions in Geonic times, that this object of both functional and ritual importance was adopted, its purpose being to indicate the place in the text for the reader who chants from the Torah scroll in the synagogue service.

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