Re'eh 5784

A congregant on the west coast came into shul this week for services, with a cast on his left hand. He turned to his rabbi and asked him how he was to observe the mitzvah of donning tefillin with a broken wrist. He asked if one cannot put the tefillin on the traditional arm that is used depending if you are a right or a lefty, then does one put the tefillin on the other arm until the first one heals? Or does one put the tefillin only on the head? Or does one not don tefillin at all.

In a similar fashion a member of our congregation asked me this week, what if the ark or the sanctuary does not face east? Is one supposed to face the east when offering the Amidah? Must a sanctuary always face east?

In this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, we find that Moses shares with the Israelites that there will come a point, where a centralized house of worship will be created. From that point on, all ritual sacrifices must take place only in that centralized house of worship. However, if one wishes to partake of meat, the Torah understands that it would become too much of a burden upon the people to have to travel such distances by foot or carried by an animal. Therefore, meat is permitted to be eaten wherever one dwells. One simply has to follow the laws of kashruth related to how the animal is slaughtered and how the meat is prepared so that one does not partake of the blood and the meat is eaten in a dignified manner.

The point of the reading, as I see it, is that the Torah understands that not every person can dwell in Jerusalem. Imagine if we could only eat meat if we flew to Israel? The rabbis understood the need of the people. They also recognized that in the real world not everything can be as perfect as the Torah would like us to think.

So what does one do if one cannot put on tefillin because one is wearing a cast? The rabbis tell us that each of the tefillin, the one for the head and the one for the arm, are their own individual mitzvot. We do not recite one beracha, one blessing for both. Each one has its own unique blessing that we recite as we place it on our hand or our arm. Better to do one mitzvah, than not to do them at all. Since it is hoped that the left arm (which is the one that a righty puts tefillin on) will recover, one might not truly be fulfilling the mitzvah by putting it on the arm that a lefty would be putting it on (the right one).

So how do the rabbis handle the situation of an ark facing any direction but east? I have served in several congregations where that has been the case. It seems that many years ago when congregations were established, they first created a multi-purpose hall, with the bimah situated on the eastern wall of the building. When they then grew in membership and had enough funds to build a sanctuary, there was not enough land to build the sanctuary behind that eastern wall, so the ark and the bimah ended up on the western wall.

In the Shulchan Aruch, which is the 16th century code of laws that we use to determine halacha, Jewish law, we read:

“If one prays [facing] one of the other directions, one should turn one's face to the direction of the land of Israel if one is in the Diaspora; and to Jerusalem if one is in the land of Israel; and to the Temple if one is in Jerusalem.” Gloss: And we who turn our faces to the east, it is because we dwell to the west of the land of Israel, and so our faces are towards the land of Israel (Tur, Orach Chaim 94:1 and Sefer Mitzvot Gadol). We do not make the place of the ark [in our synagogue] and the direction of prayer exactly opposite the sunrise because that is the way of the heretics; rather we direct [ourselves] opposite [the direction of the sun] in the middle of the day (Hagahot Alfasi haChadashim) And one who wants to uphold their saying (i.e. that of the Sages): "The one who wants to gain wealth turns northward or to gain wisdom turns southward, nevertheless should turn one's face towards the east.”

Why north for wealth and wisdom south? In the Talmud (Bava Batra) we are told that the shulchan, the table in the Holy Temple was in the North and the menorah faced south. The table represents food and sustenance, while the menorah represents the light of wisdom.

It goes on to say: “One who is not able to determine the [compass] directions [should] direct one's heart to one's Father who is in Heaven.”

It is this last statement that many congregations have used to permit bimahs and aronot (arks) to not face to the east.

Moreover, there is a thought, in respect of the Torah and the Ark, one should not turn one’s tush away from the Torah, unless there is a Torah being marched around the sanctuary. Honor of the Torah is of greater importance than facing east, towards Jerusalem. (It is for that reason that many who descend from the bimah, will walk backwards down the stairs or away from it, in giving kavod to the Torah.) We, therefore, understand that if one directs their heart to Hashem who is in Heaven, then our prayers will make their way to Hashem.

Shabbat shalom and Am Yisrael Chai.

We pray for the hostages in Gaza. May they speedily be returned to Eretz Yisrael and to their families.

Rabbi K