Tas – Breastplate

The Sifrei Torah (Scrolls of the Law) are often fit with a silver breastplate called a tas.

As a general rule, the Communities have more than one Sefer Torah (generally, the greater the number of Sifrei Torah a community owned, the greater its economic and cultural wealth). Moreover, some festivals or holidays require reading different passages from separate scrolls: for this reason, these breastplates often bear inscriptions indicating when the scroll is to be read.

Some tas have a dedication, in Hebrew, bearing the name of the donor.