This paddle listing the Ten Commandments in Hebrew was one of the objects donated in early 1993 after the synagogue closed.  What is it?!

Eric Lidji of the Rauh Jewish Archives wrote me, “This is completely a guess, but I wonder if that paddle was used on Simchas Torah, just to add to the festiveness of the event. Or maybe even for those who might not be allowed to carry the Torah around.”  Interesting idea!

(My theory was that it was somehow related to the custom of standing during the Torah reading when the Ten Commandments are chanted.)