Which direction do Jews pray?

The source

When King Solomon dedicated the Temple, he asked that God hear the prayers of His people when “they pray to You in the direction of their land… the city You have chosen and the house I have built” (1 Kings 8:48). Daniel in Babylon prayed with his windows open toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6:11).

The rule

The Talmud teaches: one who prays outside the Land of Israel faces the Land; in the Land, faces Jerusalem; in Jerusalem, faces the Temple; in the Temple, faces the Holy of Holies. So “all Israel direct their hearts to one place”. The Shulchan Aruch codifies this.

In practice

In most of Europe and North America, people face east (more precisely, the great-circle direction, which can be north-east). In a synagogue, face the Ark. When unsure, or if facing that way is not possible – on a plane or bus – one directs one’s heart toward Jerusalem.

Synagogue architecture

Synagogues are built so that the Ark is on the wall closest to Jerusalem; in Europe and the Americas that is usually the east wall, which is why the seats along it, “mizrach”, were traditionally the most honoured. Many homes hang a decorative “mizrach” plaque on the east wall to show the direction of prayer.

If you made a mistake

Someone who realised in the middle of the Amidah that he is facing the wrong way does not move his feet; he turns his face or simply directs his heart toward Jerusalem, and the prayer is valid.