Zmanim · The calendar and the moon

Which direction do we face when we pray — the way toward Jerusalem?

Every prayer leaning toward one place

Jewish prayer has a direction. Wherever a Jew stands in the world, the tradition asks that the standing prayer, the Amidah, be said facing the Land of Israel — and within the Land toward Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem toward the mountain where the Temple stood. It is as if all the prayers of our people were arrows leaning toward a single heart. You are never praying alone into empty space; you are praying alongside a whole mishpachah (extended family) all turned the same way.

Where the tradition says it

The Talmud, in tractate Berachot 30a, teaches how one who stands to pray directs the heart toward Jerusalem and the Holy of Holies, learning it from Solomon's prayer that the people would turn toward the chosen city and House. The Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 94, sets this down as settled practice: face the Land, then Jerusalem, then the Temple's place, so that the whole people faces one point. The Hebrew word for east, מִזְרָח — mizrach — became the name for the wall a synagogue faces, marking the way to Jerusalem.

What to do

Find the direction of Jerusalem from where you live and face it when you pray the Amidah. From most of the Americas that is roughly east to northeast, but the exact bearing depends on your city, so it is worth calculating rather than guessing. If you are unsure, ask your rabbi or check which way your community's mizrach wall faces. What matters most, the tradition adds, is that even without a clear direction the heart turns toward Jerusalem.

Source: Talmud, Berachot 30a; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 94..