Why do people pray facing east in the synagogue?
In many traditional Jewish synagogues and in some Messianic synagogues you will notice that when prayers from the liturgy are recited people face toward the east. The idea for this actually comes out of the Hebrew Scripture and can be found in several places. For instance in I Kings 8:38,42, 44, and 48 Solomon talks about those worshipping at the Temple and how they will face east toward the city of Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem is the city of King David and was also the place where the Temple stood it became a custom of Jews living outside of Israel to turn toward Jerusalem when praying. We can see this clearly in the life of Daniel in the book of Daniel (6:10). It made a good deal of sense for Jews who were dispersed into many different places to orient their minds back to Jerusalem when they prayed. The Psalmist just assumes that those who are praying will be facing toward Jerusalem (see Psalm 5:7; 28:2; 138: 2). While there is no Torah command to face east when praying, we are command
