Within the synagogue proper, clusters of delicate columns of various marbles and of costly woods, support double galleries, one above the other, with lattice work in front, that the black-eyed and raven-locked and comely-featured Hebrew women may not draw the mind of the worshipers beneath from their devotions. The galleries are empty now. The Hebrew women do not attend the service of the Sabbath Eve. They are at home awaiting the return of their husbands, fathers, brothers. All day long have they been busy in the preparation for the Sabbath. The house has been put in order. The choicest that means would allow and the market afford has been secured and prepared for the festive Sabbath meal. Upon the table, decked with snow white linens, and with the tempting dishes, burn the lights in the heavy silver candlesticks, and the traditional seven-armed Sabbath lamp, suspended from the center of the ceiling, having been lighted with Sabbath benedictions by the queen of the house, sheds a hallowed light over mother, wife and daughter, who are attired in their neatest, and whose countenances are flushed from the day's busy task, and whose eyes beam, and whose hearts beat with joyous expectations. But we have strayed from the description of the galleries of the synagogue to the women in their homes. What wonder the Spanish Jews had need of their latticed railings! The interspaces between the graceful horseshoe arches and the ovals in the ceiling are delicately pencilled with brilliant colors, and the walls are filled with arabesques interwreathing appropriate Hebrew texts. The wall to the east, the direction towards Jerusalem, holds the _Haichal_, the shrine, in which is kept the _Thora_, the parchment scrolls of the Pentateuch. The shrine is canopied by a wondrously designed shell-shaped covering, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory and silver. A curtain of silk and woven gold, and decorated with gems of chrysolite and emeralds and sapphires, serves as a screen to this "Holy of Holies." Over this shell-shaped canopy is an illuminated window of artistic workmanship, inscribed in brilliant colors with the words, "_Yehi Or_," "Let there be light." The moon, queen of the night, rides in the cloudless sky, and she sends her peerless light through this double-triangled window, and the effect is most sublime. Suspended from the ceiling, and directly in front of the curtain is the _Ne'er Tamid_ the "Perpetual Lamp," famous for its wondrous beauty and for its priceless value, the gift of the mother of _Chasdai ben Isaac_, and its mellow light sends a hallowing influence over the congregants. Beneath it are the pyramidal steps, from which the descendants of the High-Priest Aaron bestow, on the great holidays, the priestly blessings upon the congregation. To the right and left of these stand the _M'noroth_, the high seven-armed candelabra, a faithful copy of the Biblical design[10]. [10] Exodus xxv: 31-36.