A parochet (Hebrew: [[:wikt:פרוכת|פרוכת]]|translit=parôkheth; Yiddish: פרוכת|translit=paroykhes), meaning "curtain" or "screen",[1] is the curtain that covers the Torah ark (Aron Kodesh) containing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue.
The parochet symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant, based on 40:21 : "Then he put up the curtain for screening, and screened off the Ark of the Pact—just as יהוה had commanded Moses."[2]
In most synagogues, the parochet which is used all year round is replaced during the High Holy Days with a white one.
The term parochet is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the main hall (Hebrew: [[:wikt:היכל|היכל]]|translit=hekhal)[3] of the Temple in Jerusalem. Its use in synagogues is a reference to the centrality of the Temple to Jewish worship.
The Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem houses the oldest surviving parochet, dating to 1572.[4]