The Torah shield is a metal shield, usually made of silver. It is suspended on a chain over the vestment of the Torah scroll. Ashkenazi Jews call it Tas. It is a ceremonial object for pointing to the right section of the Torah during its reading in the synagogue. The shape of the shield varies, and the elements of its decoration are always associated with the symbolism of the Torah: crowns, eagles, Star of David, floral patterns, figures of Moses the Prophet and his brother Aaron, the High Priest.

The Torah scrolls are one of the most important sacred objects in Judaism. They tell the history of the Jewish people and contain God’s commandments that Moses the Prophet wrote down on Mount Sinai over a period of forty days. The parchment scrolls with the text of the Torah are kept in a special ark in the synagogue, behind the embroidered velvet curtain, the parokhet. They are wrapped in expensive fabric or hidden in silver cases. It is forbidden to touch the Torah Scrolls barehanded during the reading; there are special pointers made of silver or ivory for that purpose.

In the center of the shield is a screen which can be of any shape, usually in the form of a baroque cartouche, a scroll with the corners turned upwards. The name of the holiday on which the relevant Torah section was read was engraved there; most commonly it was Shabbat, Saturday. The book of Exodus says the following about it:

A dedicatory inscription, the name of the donor, and the date may have been inscribed next to it. As with all the sacred utensils of the synagogue, the Torah shield was usually a gift to the temple from the congregation or from individual congregants.

The shield often depicted the Tablets of the Covenant, guarded by two lions, symbols of power and strength. The lion was associated with the tribe of Judah, one of the Jewish tribes into which Jesus was later born. Jacob, in blessing his son Judah, compared him to a lion. The images of a deer and a lion are often found in the traditional art of the Jews of Eastern Europe, in the decoration of ritual utensils. It is customary to relate them to a quotation from the Talmud:

Instead of lions on either side of the tablets, there may have been pillars entwined with grapes. This is a symbol of the Temple in Jerusalem, the destroyed spiritual center of the Israelite people. The prophecy states that the temple will be rebuilt with the coming of the Messiah. The devotion to this faith is echoed in the Torah and its decor.