(no subject)

[lethargic_man]

It's well known that Jews pray (roughly) facing Jerusalem, and Muslims facing Mecca. I've just learned from Wikipedia that North American Muslims are split between praying in the traditional direction, along a Great Circle route to Mecca, viz. northeast, and along a Mercator's projection route to Mecca, viz. southeast.

I wonder how we grappled with that problem. Neither Wikipedia, the Jewish Encyclopedia nor the Encyclopaedia Judaica answer this.

Comments

[dhole.livejournal.com]

I am almost entirely certain that there's a gemara about this, but my searchable Talmud is on a computer that's not terribly available at the moment. If I recall correctly, it's not just toward Jerusalem, at least for the Amoraim -- various directions are supposed to be good for different things; only the North is counter-indicated.

The general concensus among Rishonim, again, if I'm not mistaken, is that Jews living outside of Israel face the meridian that country lies on. So if you're in the West, you face East, and vice versa. In Israel, you face toward Jerusalem, in Jerusalem you face toward the har habayit, in the temple, you face the heichal, in the heichal you face the kodesh, in the kodesh, you face the kodesh kodoshim, and in the kodesh kodoshim, you face the aron. If you're in the aron, you have other problems.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

The experience of Usama ibn Munqidh concerning prayer directions:

This is an example of Frankish barbarism, God damn them! When I was in Jerusalem I used to go to the Masjid al-Aqsa, beside which is a small oratory which the Franks have made into a church. Whenever I went into the mosque, which was in the hands of Templars who were friends of mine, they would put the little oratory at my disposal, so that I could say my prayers there. One day I had gone in, said the Allah akhbar and risen to begin my prayers, when a Frank threw himself on me from behind, lifted me up and turned me so that I was facing east. ‘That is the way to pray!” he said. Some Templars at once intervened, seized the man and took him out of my way, while I resumed my prayer. But the moment they stopped watching him he seized me again and forced me to face east, repeating that this was the way to pray. Again the Templars intervened and took him away. They apologized to me and said: ‘He is a foreigner who has just arrived today from his homeland in the north, and he has never seen anyone pray facing any direction other than east.’ ‘I have finished my prayers,’ I said, and left, stupefied by the fanatic who had been so perturbed and upset to see someone pray facing the qibla!

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I was on the first Jewish student peace process tour of Israel, Egypt and Jordan in 1995 (a year after peace had been reached with Jordan). We spent Shabbos in Ammān, and davened in our hotel. Somebody said, "which way's east?", a second person pointed away from the setting sun, and so we all turned to face that way. A moment later, realised what we'd done wrong, we then all turned a smart about face. Most amusing.

[songster.livejournal.com]

How do they manage on the space station? A straight line orientation would seem the simplest solution. You'd still have the problem that it's a quite rapidly moving target.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

You put yourself into an identical and opposite counter-rotation whilst in free-fall. No, seriously, you face Jerusalem in your heart. This is the solution that is found in the Talmud for people who are unable to face Jerusalem whilst travelling—and was put into practice by the Israeli astronaut who visited the ISS (and, tragically, died in the Columbia disaster on the way back).

The Muslim community appears not to have prior precedent, and is grappling with the issue only now (see above Wikipedia link).