Kavanah – Directing the Heart

I bring along a compass when I travel. If I pray¹ without a compass or some other way of being certain which way is east, I am not permitted to guess the way. If I am not certain which direction is east, I must opt 

for the backup plan: praying directly to my Father in Heaven.

Our rabbis taught: A blind man or one who cannot tell direction should direct his heart toward his Father in Heaven, as it says, And they will pray to the Eternal (1 Kings 8:44).  If he is standing outside the Land, he should direct his heart (כיון לבו) toward the Land of Israel, as it says, And pray to you by way of (דרך) their land Ibid. v. 48).  If he stands in the Land of Israel, he should direct his heart towards Jerusalem, as it says, And they pray to the Eternal by way of (דרך) the city that you have chosen (Ibid. v. 44).  If he stands in Jerusalem he should direct his heart toward the Sanctuary, as it says, If they pray toward this house (2 Chron. 6:32).  If he stands in the Sanctuary, he should direct his heart toward the chamber Holiest Place, as it says, They pray toward this place (1 Kgs 8:35).  If he stands in the chamber of the Holiest Place, he should direct his heart toward the ark cover.  If he stands behind the ark cover, he should see himself as if he were in front of the ark cover. Consequently if he stands in the east he should turn his face toward the west; if in the west he should turn his face toward the east; if in the south he should turn his face toward the north; if in the north he should turn his face toward the south. [In this way] all Israel are found directing their (מכוונין לבם) heart toward one place. (Bavli Berachot 30a; my translation.)

     Prayer is directional. Those who are not capable of telling direction should direct their heart to their Father in Heaven. Those who are capable should direct their heart to the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, and so on to the ark cover, where on Yom Kipper all the sins of Israel are atoned for (see Lev. 17). Those who pray “toward one place” are surely praying to the Eternal. The content of Jewish prayer makes that perfectly clear. But they are praying “by way of the Land”and “by way of the city.” We may say “our Father in Heaven” but our heart and face are directed to a certain place on earth. It is good for Jews to do this so that our prayer is all in one direction.² 

     But why not direct our heart and face directly toward our Father in Heaven—then, too, we’d all be facing in one direction? Why does the Talmud, admittedly rooted in Scripture, tells Jews that only those who are blind or incapable of determining which way is correct should pray directly to our Father?

     The issue is orientation. The prayer spoken of in this passage is the thrice-daily communal prayer. (Messianic) Jewish communal prayer is oriented toward the Eternal by way of holy places on earth. Jewish communal prayer and Jewish life are oriented in certain ways, and this orientation concerns things on the earth. Otherwise, Jews and Jewish prayer are disoriented.

     In this passage, the Talmud preserves the Hebrew of the Tosefta (compiled in the Land of Israel circa 275 CE). Only the Western Wall of the Temple still stood, as it does today, and so the situation envisioned here was already obsolete.  Or so it would seem. In fact, Jewish prayer had already become an act not only of heart and sight but also imagination. I use the word “imagination” in the most positive way. By means of our imagination, the Holiest Place still stands (and will stand) as we direct our heart toward it. The Land, Jerusalem, and the Holiest Place, are saturated with the fragrance of Messiah. It is easy for Messianic Jews to direct our heart there because these places evoke Yeshua's life in Galilee, his times in Jerusalem, and ultimately his death. He gave himself there for the lost sheep of the house of Israel so that the world could receive God's mercy.

     The same Baal Shem Tov who restored personal prayer that is directed toward our Father in Heaven also prayed three times daily, directing his heart, and facing, toward the Land. He certainly understood that communal Israel would become disoriented if our prayer lost its earthly anchor in the Land, the Temple, and the Holy of Holies. 

Footnotes

¹ That is, when I pray the set prayers morning, noon, or evening.

² Truth in labeling: I am not a posek (halakhic decisor). This post should not be used for halakhic purposes.