Louis Isaac Rabinowitz et al.: Synagogue. In: Michael Berenbaum, Fred Skolnik (Hrsg.): Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2. Auflage. Band19. Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit 2007, S.352–355 (englisch) (Gale Virtual Reference Library).
jewfaq.org
Heiligtum – Sanctuary
„(…) The portion of the synagogue where prayer services are performed is commonly called the sanctuary. Synagogues in the United States are generally designed so that the front of the sanctuary is on the side towards Jerusalem, which is the direction that we are supposed to face when reciting certain prayers. (…) Probably the most important feature of the sanctuary is the Ark, a cabinet or recession in the wall that holds the Torah scrolls. (…) The Ark has doors as well as an inner curtain called a parokhet. This curtain is in imitation of the curtain in the Sanctuary in The Temple, and is named for it.(…)“
