Question
Why do we face east when we pray? What is special about that direction?
Answer
Jews face toward Jerusalem when they pray; for Jews in Europe and the Americas this means that they face east, but Jews in the far east face west when they pray. The Torah sometimes uses words for directions that assume that a person is facing east; for example, in Gen.14:15 “north” is called “left”. “East” may be a special direction because the Garden of Eden was in that direction (Gen.2:8).