Davening North and South (1 of 2)
Note: The post that I was working on to post on Monday morning was aborted midway through. I realized that the idea I was trying to convey would better be expressed from a totally different standpoint. After abandoning that project at around 11:00pm on Sunday night, I started writing this post, knowing full well that I wouldn't finish before I went to sleep. I decided to just post the facts and the questions, and leave it at that. I'd rather write "half" of a post well than to write a full post poorly. I'll either post the second half of this one later today, or I'll save it for Tuesday morning.
The Facts
The Gemara in Bava Basra 25b, following Rashi's explanation, states:
R' Yitzchak said: One who desires to become wise should turn his face southward [during tefilah (prayer)]; if he desires to become wealthy, he should turn his face northward. The mnemonic device by which to remember this is that the Shulchan (Table in the Beis ha'Mikdash) was in the north, and the Menorah (Candelabra in the Beis ha'Mikdash) was in the south.
R' Yehoshua ben Levi said: [A person who desires to become wealthy] should always turn his face southward, since, by becoming wise, he will [also] become wealthy, as it is stated [regarding wisdom], "Length of days is at its right; at its left, wealth and honor" (Mishlei 3:16).
Interesting, eh? Let's try to understand what's going on.
Artwork: Mystic Compass, by Amy WeberThe Questions
To my mind, the major questions are:
How does this work? In other words, how does turning one's face in a particular direction during tefilah (prayer) make a person wealthy or wise? Is this some sort of mystical mechanism, or is there a cause-and-effect relationship here that we can understand?
Why isn't tefilah sufficient? We already ask for wisdom in the fourth berachah of the shemoneh esrei, and we ask for wealth (i.e. a livelihood) in the ninth berachah. That being said, why does halacha prescribe a separate course of action for a person who wants to become wise or wealthy? Why can't this person just rely on his tefilah?
Why north for wisdom and south for wealth? The Gemara provides a mnemonic, but it doesn't explain the reason behind each direction. Is it arbitrary, or is there a reason?
What is the basis of the machlokes between R' Yitzchak and R' Yehoshua ben Levi? After all, R' Yehoshua ben Levi's argument seems to make a lot of sense! Why commit yourself to wealth alone when you can get wealth and wisdom? And yet, R' Yitzchak disagrees. Why? What are they really arguing about?
Unfortunately, the Rishonim - at least, the Rishonim I currently have access to - are silent on this Gemara. Not only that, but none of the Rishonic poskim (halachic deciders) bring this down in their halachic codes - neither the Rif, Rosh, nor the Rambam. There is no mention of this halacha in the Shulchan Aruch. Only the Rema (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 94:2) mentions it, and he does so in passing, and in an unusual manner:
One who desires to fulfill the statement [of Chazal] - namely, that one who desires to become wealthy should turn northward [while davening], and one who desires to become wise should face southward - should, nevertheless, turn his face to the east.
(Note: The Mishnah Berurah brings down a machlokes as to whether a person who wishes to implement this halacha should face north/south with one's body and turn one's face to the east, as the Rema holds, or whether one should turn one's face to the north/south but remain facing east with his body, as Rashi explained on the Gemara. The Mishnah Berurah paskins that our minhag is in accordance with Rashi, and not the Rema.)
I can't justify listing this as a question on par with the others, but I will still ask: Can we infer anything from the fact that the major Rishonic poskim don't bring this down l'halacha? Moreover, can we infer anything from the fact that the Rema only mentions it in the context of, "if a person wishes to fulfill the statement of Chazal.
To Be Continued ...
While I can't yet answer all of these questions, I do have an approach to understanding the basic idea of this Gemara. Let's think about it some more, and I'll post my thoughts either later on today or for tomorrow's post.
Addendum (7/7/14 at 1:50pm): The following question was raised by REF/RAZ: "Perhaps another question: what is the relationship between this advice and the HALACHA of facing mikdash for tefilla?" This is definitely a question that must be addressed in order to understand the sugya. However, I chose not to write about it because the amount of space it would take up wouldn't be justified by its contribution to our understanding of our Gemara, since the ultimate answer is: "The advice given by R' Yitzchak and R' Yehoshua ben Levi is unrelated to, and does not interfere with, the halacha of facing Mikdash for tefilah." If you are interested in understanding why, I encourage you to learn through the rest of the sugya here (Bava Basra 25b) and the sugya about facing Mikdash (Berachos 30a), it'll become clear that the two are on "different tracks." I'll be happy to field any questions about this in the comments. I just don't want to include it in the main body of this post.