One of the first things we are taught as kids when we learn about Jewish prayer is that we should always face East when we daven.  This, we are told, is so that our prayers will always be directed towards Eretz Yisrael.  The truth of the matter, however, is that the direction one faces when praying all depends upon where one is located in relation to Eretz Yisrael.  If, for instance, a Jew is praying on the other side of the world in a place like Australia, he would not face east at all but rather northwest. If he were in China, on the other hand, he would turn himself to face southwest. Indeed, the evolution of this idea as to where and how we direct our prayers in our tradition is very interesting.  
   
    We can actually trace the roots of this halacha all the way back to Shlomo Hamelech, King Solomon, himself, the builder of the Beit Hamikdash. It was when the Beit Hamikdash was finally completed, that Shlomo Hamelech hosted a grand dedication in honor of the occasion. During this dedication he composed and recited a lengthy prayer which is recorded in Tanach in Sefer Malachim and Divrei Hayamim. It is this prayer which is the source of our halachot which mandate which direction we face during davening.  

    In his tefila, Shlomo Hamelech pleaded with Hashem on behalf of his people.  He requested for all time that if any Jew would turn himself towards the Beit Hamikdash and sincerely pour his heart out to his Creator that that Jew should have his prayers answered. Shlomo foresaw a time when Bnei Yisrael’s sins would become so great that they would cause it to fall from the exalted position it occupied in his time. He foresaw that as Bnei Yisrael continued its downward spiral that it would have to go out to do battle with its enemies and would eventually be driven into exile. His tefila, therefore, was designed to apply to Jews in three different places and situations:  in Yerushalayim, in Eretz Yisrael and outside of Eretz Yisrael.  Hence, any prayer that a Jew would make in Yerushalayim while facing toward the Beit Hamikdash would be readily accepted. Any prayer that a Jew would make toward Yerushalayim while fighting the enemy inside of Eretz Yisrael would be readily accepted     and any prayer that a Jew would make after he is taken captive to a distant land but facing towards Eretz Yisrael would also be accepted.

    The Gemara learns from this the following guidelines:  a person who finds himself outside of Eretz Yisrael should face Eretz Yisrael when praying the Shemoneh Esrei; a person in Eretz Yisrael should face Yerushalayim, a person in Yerushalayim should face the Beit Hamikdash and a person in the Beit Hamikdash should face the Kodesh Kadoshim, the Holy of Holies. This explains why the Kosel, the Western Wall, is such a special place to daven – it’s the closest one can get to the Kodesh Kadoshim.
   
    Rabbi Yosef Caro writes in the Shulchan Aruch that the halacha is not to just symbolically or physically face Eretz Yisrael. Rather, he writes that a person should “face” Eretz Yisrael with his entire being.  He should concentrate his whole heart and soul towards Yerushalayim, the Beit Hamikdash, and the Kodesh Kadoshim. The Mishnah Berurah explains this to mean that a person should actually view himself as if he were standing in the Kodesh Kadoshim itself.  He, too, stresses that this should not just be an external, physical turning of our bodies but rather an internal turning of our hearts.
   
    Our Rabbis are encouraging us with this halacha to use our inherent ability to focus powerful mental imagery to enable us to concentrate better on our tefillot.  They knew that having the image of the Kodesh Kadoshim, the very place where the Shechina or Divine Presence rests, in our minds while praying, would certainly supercharge our davening and give us the feeling that we were speaking directly to God. 

    May we all learn to harness this powerful ability that we all possess when we, as Jews, turn ourselves eastward to daven and in so doing may we merit to build for ourselves a stronger connection to our Creator.