Synagogue Seating according to One’s Craft

R. Judah [b. Ilai] said, “Whoever has never seen the double stoa [i.e., colonnade] of Alexandria has never in his life seen the glory of Israel. It is a kind of large basilica, a stoa within a stoa, holding, at times, twice the number of those who left Egypt. And seventy-one cathedrae [i.e., honorary chairs or thrones] of gold were there for the seventy-one elders, each of them [worth] 25 talents [of gold], and a wooden platform [bimah] was in the middle. And a ḥazzan¹ of the synagogue [lit., assembly] stood on it with kerchiefs in his hand. When one took hold [of the Torah scroll] to read, he would wave the kerchiefs, and they [i.e., those congregated] would answer ‘Amen’ for each benediction; and he would again [wave the kerchiefs], and they would [again] respond ‘Amen.’ And they would not sit randomly, but goldsmiths would sit by themselves, silversmiths by themselves, weavers by themselves, Tarsian weavers by themselves, and blacksmiths by themselves. And why to such an extent [i.e., why the differentiated seating]? So that if a visitor comes he can [immediately] make contact with his trade, and thus he will be able to make a living.”