The East-West Orientation of the Mishkan

 

The Significance of the East-West Orientation of the Mishkan

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

            In the coming lectures, I wish to deal with the issue of the physical orientation of the Mishkan and its spiritual significance.[1] As in the previous lectures, the assumption underlying these shiurim is that east-west axis of the Mishkan is not random or arbitrary, but rather of spiritual significance. In light of this assumption, I wish to examine the issue of the directions of the Mishkan on two levels:

 

• How is this point expressed in the Mishkan (and later in the two Temples), and what is the significance of this matter with respect to the particulars of the service in the Mishkan and in the Mikdash?
• What is the significance of this fact on the broader level? In other words, what is the significance of going eastward throughout Scripture? Does this orientation express some ideal, or perhaps just the opposite - does it serve as repair? Does the spiritual significance of the directions in the Bible accord with or give expression to the significance of this axis in the Mishkan?

 

In this lecture, I wish to survey the places where this point arises in the Mishkan and in the Mikdash. In the coming lectures, I will deal with the meaning of these points in the Mishkan and in general.

 

THE ORIENTATION OF THE MISHKAN

 

            The orientation of the Mishkan is not explicitly spelled out in the Torah. However, since we know that the door of the Mishkan was on the eastern side and that the far western side was closed, it is clear that the structure was a long rectangle.

 

            The same is true with respect to the First Temple – the direction is not stated explicitly, and it can only be inferred from the context. It is only in tractate Middot, which describes the Mikdash at the end of the Second Temple period, that it is explicitly stated that the Holy of Holies is located on the western side.

 

            In light of this, it is clear that the service was performed from east to west; the more one proceeds westwards, the deeper one enters into the Mikdash. The service in the courtyard is more external and material, as opposed to the service in the Holy, which is more internal and spiritual.[2] We see this in several contexts:

 

1. The relationship between the outer and the inner altar.

2. The relationship between the more physical sacrificial service and the daily lighting of the lamps and burning of the incense.

3. The relationship between the daily service in the Holy and the special service of Yom Kippur in the Holy of Holies.

 

This is stated explicitly in the mishnayot at the beginning of tractate Keilim, which describe the different levels of holiness in the Mikdash:

 

The area between the Ulam and the altar is holier, for men afflicted with blemishes or with a wild growth of hair may not enter it. The Heikhal is holier, for no one whose hands or feet are unwashed may enter it. The Holy of Holies is holier, for only the High Priest, on Yom Kippur, at the service, may enter it. (Keilim 1:9)

 

The highest level of holiness is found in the Holy of Holies, which is found in the westernmost part of the structure. From there, the holiness spreads eastward, diminishing in its intensity.

 

            The entranceways in the Mikdash are aligned from east to west: the screen of the gate of the courtyard is the easternmost, and from there one enters into the courtyard, and from there through the door of the Ohel Mo'ed to the parokhet that divides between the Holy and the Holy of Holies.

 

            Similarly, in later generations, the entrance was in the east, and the Holy of Holies was in the west. At the end of the Second Temple period, the Shoshan gate in the east led to the gate of the women's courtyard, and from there to the Nikanor gate, and from there to the gate of the Ulam, the Holy, and the Holy of Holies. All of them were perfectly aligned from east to west.

 

MAN’S SERVICE IN THE MIKDASH FROM EAST TO WEST

 

            In addition to the Mishkan itself, the service in the Mikdash was also directed on an east-west axis.

 

            Before we examine the details of the services that demonstrate to this principle, it should be noted that this issue arises in the gemara in the course of a discussion about the location of the Shekhina:

 

For so said R. Yehoshua ben Levi: Let us be grateful to our ancestors for showing us the place of prayer, as it is written: "And the host of heaven worships you" (Nechemia 9). R. Acha bar Yaakov objected: Perhaps, he said, [the sun and moon bow down to the east], like a servant who has received a gratuity from his master and retires backwards, bowing as he goes… (Bava Batra 25a)

 

            One of the conclusions derived from this passage is that one who serves in the Mikdash faces westward, and acts as an agent for all of creation. The universe as a whole does not have free will; man, however, has free will, and when he serves in the Temple, he acts on behalf of the universe as sort of a shali'ach tzibbur.

 

            Were we to formulate this principle in conceptual terms, we might say on the basis of the teachings of R. Kook that man realizes and activates the universe's yearning for the Creator. Man, the crown of creation, is meant to represent it before God.

 

            When the person found in the Mikdash prostrates himself each day from east to west, and sometimes more than once a day, he, as it were, includes all of creation with him and in his choice. Through the image of God in him, he raises all of creation to God.[3]

 

            There are many expressions to this principle that the Shekhina is found in the west in the Mikdash:

 

            1. First, as noted above, the structure of the Mikdash itself attests to this point. This is true about the Mishkan, the First Temple, the Second Temple, and the future Temple as prophesied by Yechezkel. This point is most clearly expressed in the axis of entry into the Mishkan and the Mikdash, where all the gates are aligned, as we saw above.[4]

 

2. The location and direction of the ark:

 

Our Rabbis taught: Every article that stood in the Temple was placed with its length parallel with the length of the house, except the ark, whose length was parallel with the breadth of the house. So was it placed and so were its staves placed… as the ark stood [lengthwise in the direction of] north and south… (Menachot 98a)[5]

 

            The location of the ark at the westernmost point, and its north-south orientation, creates a reference point for the entire east-west axis of entry.[6]

 

3. The direction of all of man's service from east to west:

 

1)     Inner service: entry into the Holy, and on Yom Kippur entry into the Holy of Holies.

 

2)     Regarding the courtyards: the women's courtyard to the east, the Israelites' courtyard to its west, the priest's courtyard further west. The gates, the direction of entry, and the view is from east to west (see below the words of Rashi to Berakhot 54a and Yoma 16a).

 

4. An imaginary line may be drawn in the Mishkan that forms a line on the east-west axis.

 

a) In the Holy – north of the axis: the table; south of the axis: the candlestick; in the center: the incense altar.

 

b) In the priest's courtyard – to the north: the slaughtering site; to the south: the altar.

 

It is interesting that in both places the more material and physical section is to the north, whereas the more spiritual section is to the south (e.g., slaughter in the north, sprinkling of the blood in the south).

 

It should be noted that in the south-eastern corner of the structure of the altar itself there is no yesod; a full yesod is found only on the northern and western sides. Similarly, blood is only sprinkled on the north-eastern and south-western corners.

 

5. The Midrash states:

 

"Behold, he stands behind our wall" (Shir Ha-shirim 2:9) – behind the western wall of the Temple. Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him that it would never be destroyed. Why? Because the Shekhina is in the west. (Midrash Rabba, Shir Ha-shirim, parasha 2, piska 26)

 

R. Acha said: The Shekhina never moves from the western wall, as it is stated: "Behold, he stands behind our wall." (Shemot Rabba, parasha 2; Zohar, II, p. 5)

 

            It is not by chance that these midrashim relate specifically to the western wall of the Temple, and not to its other walls. This also follows from other midrashim:

 

One should avoid showing disrespect to the eastern gate because it is in direct line with the Holy of Holies. (Berakhot 54a)

 

To the eastern gate: … Because all the gates are in direct line with each other: the eastern gate, the gate of the women's courtyard, the gate of the Israelites' courtyard, the door of the Ulam, the Heikhal, and the Holy of Holies in the days of the first Temple, when there was the ama traksin. (Rashi, ad loc.)

 

6. The principle of the Shekhina being found in the west is also expressed in the structure of the walls, as we find in the words of the gemara in Yoma (16a) that discusses a mishna says in tractate Middot:

 

All the walls of the Temple were high except the eastern wall, so that the priest who burned the red heifer might see the door of the Holy while standing on the top of the Mount of Olives and directing his gaze carefully. (Middot 2:4)

 

Rashi explains:

 

Directing his gaze carefully – above the top of the wall through the gates in front of him, the door of the Heikhal, when he sprinkles the blood. As it is written: "And sprinkle of her blood towards the front of the Ohel Mo'ed" (Bamidbar 19:4). Were the wall high, then even if the gates are aligned one against the other, the gate of the Temple Mount in line with the gate of the women's courtyard, and the gate of the women's courtyard with the gate of the great courtyard, and the gate of the courtyard with the door of the Holy, he would not have been able to see the door of the Holy through the other openings, because the mountain gradually grows higher… (Rashi, ad loc.)

 

7. The principle that the Shekhina dwells in the west also follows from the service itself. Here are a few examples:

 

            a) Both the person slaughtering the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself face west:

 

He came to his bullock [the High Priest's bullock on Yom Kippur], and his bullock was standing between the Ulam and the altar, its head to the south and its face to the west. And the priest stood in the east with his face to the west. And he pressed both his hands upon it and made confession. (Yoma 3:8)

 

… It [the daily offering] was strung up in such a way that its head was to the south while its face was turned to the west, and the slaughterer stood to the east of it with his face turned to the west. The morning sacrifice was killed by the north-western corner of the altar at the second ring, while the evening sacrifice was killed by the north-eastern corner at the second ring. (Tamid 4:1)

 

            The gemara (ad loc.) explains that the reason for the change in location between the morning sacrifice and the afternoon sacrifice is connected to the position of the sun. In the morning, the sun is in the east and casts its rays to the west, whereas in the afternoon, the sun is in the west and casts its rays to the east. Therefore, the morning sacrifice was slaughtered by the north-western corner, and the afternoon sacrifice was slaughtered by the north-eastern corner. The selection of the ring follows from the same reason. Owing to the height of the altar, which was ten cubits high, the sun's rays would not reach the first row of rings, but only the second row. Thus, the Halakha takes into account the relationship between the slaughter and the appearance of the sun.[7]

 

            Rabbenu Chananel, in his commentary to the gemara in Yoma (62b), explains the location of the sacrifices as follows:

 

Against the day – against it and not by it. That is to say, that of the morning was sacrificed in the west against the east, and that of the afternoon [was sacrificed] in the east against the west.

 

He makes no mention of the element of the sun or the shade.[8]

 

            b) The western lamp in the candlestick:

 

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying: Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. Outside the veil from evening unto morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. (Vayikra 24:1-3)

 

…But it is a testimony to mankind that the Divine Presence rests in Israel. What is the testimony? Rav said: That was the western branch [of the candlestick] in which the same quantity of oil was poured as into the rest, and yet he kindled [the others] from it and ended therewith. (Shabbat  22b)

 

As it has been taught: "[The seven lamps] shall give light in front of the candlestick" - this teaches that they were made to face the western lamp and the western lamp faced the Shekhina. (Megila 22b)

 

            Most of the Rishonim understood that the mitzva regarding the western lamp is that it should be lit continuously ("Before the Lord continually;" Vayikra 24:3), this being the western lamp from which the other lamps were lit in the afternoon (Rashba, Tosafot, Ra'avad and others).

 

            We can summarize the matter and say that in all the particulars of the service, we see how things were oriented toward the west: in the Holy itself (the western lamp), in the courtyard (the slaughterer as well as the animal) and on the Mount of Olives outside the Mikdash. As we have seen, this point also impacted the structure of the walls and the gates.

 

            c) Based on this same principle, in certain cases the Temple service would be brought out to the east:

 

            The burning of the red heifer:

 

And the Lord spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying: This is the ordinance of the Torah which the Lord has commanded, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke. And you shall give it to Elazar the priest, that he may bring it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before his face. And Elazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle of its blood towards the front of the Ohel Mo'ed seven times. (Bamidbar 19:1-4)

 

A causeway was made from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives, being constructed of arches above arches, each arch placed directly above each pier [of the arch below] as a protection against a grave in the depths, whereby the priest who was to burn the cow, the cow itself and all who aided in its preparation went forth to the Mount of Olives. The elders of Israel used to precede them on foot to the Mount of Olives…

It was bound with a rope of bast and placed on the pile with its head towards the south and its face towards the west. The priest stood in the east with his face towards the west… Seven times, he dipped his finger in the blood and sprinkled it towards the Holy of Holies. (Para 3:6-9)

 

All the walls of the Temple were high except the eastern wall, so that the priest who burnt the red heifer might see the door of the Heikhal at the time of the sprinkling of the blood while standing on the top of the Mount of Olives by directing his gaze carefully. (Middot 2:4)

 

            In the Azazel goat:

 

And Aharon shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel. And Aharon shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer it for a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over him, and to let him go to Azazel into the wilderness. (Vayikra 16:8-10)

 

            The mishna in Yoma (6:4) relates that a special causeway was constructed towards the wilderness for the sake of the goat that was sent to Azazel. The goat sent to Azazel, which carries with it the sins of Israel from the Mikdash to a barren land, faces eastward – in the direction of the wilderness.[9]

 

            In this context, it is interesting to note that the bamot that Shlomo built for idolatry were found to the east of the city:

 

Then did Shelomo build a high place for Kemosh, the abomination of Moav, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molekh, the abomination of the children of Amon. And likewise did he for all his foreign wives who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods. (I Melakhim 11:7-8)

 

            This also follows from the verse that describes the abolition of idolatry in the days of Yoshiya:

 

And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Shelomo the king of Israel had built for Ashtoret the abomination of the Tzidonim, and for Kemosh the abomination of Moav, and for Kilom the abomination of the children of Amon, did the king defile. (II Melakhim 23:13)

 

            It follows from this verse that the bamot were south of the Mount of Corruption, i.e., the Mount of Olives – an area that is today east of the City of David.

 

            There are a number of possible reasons for the selection of the place. For example, this was an “ideal” high place for idol worship, from which one can turn eastward not only to the tents of Moav and Amon, but also in the direction of the appearance of the sun, not exactly in line with the site of the Mikdash, but with the city. It is possible that the building of bamot east of the Kidron, the eastern border of Jerusalem, to the east of the Mikdash and the city, is also connected to the tendency that bamot for idol worship are built to the east, despite the fact that it would have been possible to build them somewhere else.

 

            Another example may be brought from the fact that the excess blood was removed from the Mikdash to the east to the Kidron:

 

At the south-western corner [of the foundation] there were two openings like two fine nostrils through which the blood which was poured on the western side of the foundation and on the southern side flowed down till the two streams became mingled in the channel, through which they made their way out to the brook of Kidron. (Middot 3:2)

 

            To complete this lecture, I wish to note an interesting point that the Shekhina's departure from the Mikdash at the end of the First Temple period, as described by the prophet Yechezkel, was eastward to the Mount of Olives: "And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city" (Yechezkel 11:23).

 

THe sides of the altar and their spiritual significance

 

            In his commentary (Vayikra 1:5), R. Hirsch notes several points connected to the directions of the altar and the service performed there:

 

As soon as the doors of the Sanctuary were opened, the sides of the altar took on the meaning of the sides of the Sanctuary. The direction towards the ark, the west side of the altar, represented the Torah; the south, the direction of the candlestick, the intellect, the spiritual; the north, the direction of the table, the material; the east, the direction of the door, the entrances and exits of the people, represented the nation, Israel living a life as the product of Torah, the table, and the candlestick, as the culmination of their ideal life was represented inside by the incense altar. The junction of the sides in the south-western corner would represent the intellectual life produced by and coming out of the Torah, the south-eastern the life of the nation produced by this intellectual life and so directed to the Torah …

These are exactly the same four aspects of life that are urged upon us by our tefillin, each one separately for the theory in the tefillin of the head, and all combined for the practice, the actual carrying out, in the tefillin of the hand. "Kadesh" is the consecration of the nation to the Torah, the east. "Ve-haya ki yevi'akha" is the material prosperity granted to the nation, the north. "Shema" is the spiritual life, the life of the intellect aroused through the Torah, the south. "Ve-haya im shamo'a" is the realization, the carrying out of the Torah which is expected from the national prosperity, the west. Or better, "Kadesh" the southeast; "Ve-haya ki yevi'akha" the northeast; "Shema" the southwest, "Ve-haya im shamo'a the northwest.

Now, it is of the deepest significance and describes the whole idea of Jewish History that the southeastern corner of the altar had no foundation at all. Only the northern and western sides had the base completely built up. On the eastern and southern sides, there was only the beginning of a base extending just one cubit at the northeastern and southwestern corners respectively. So that the altar, which at its base measured 32 x 32 cubits, had no foundation along 31 cubits on the southern side, and the same on the east. All that we were to receive from the hands of God, the Torah (represented by the west) and our national prosperity through keeping the Torah (represented by the north) was on a firm and completely established basis. But for that which was to evolve from these gifts of God by our own activities and devotion, for our intellectual and spiritual life (the south) developing from the Torah, and for our whole actual national life based on the Torah and lived solely for it (the east) only a beginning was made. It is accordingly, perhaps, not too bold to say that the lack of the south-eastern basis is the sad cause of the whole Jewish History up to the present day, and that in the building out of the south-eastern corner lies the whole goal and hope of the Jewish future.

This way of looking at it from a historical point of view gains weight and meaning from the fact that the gemara in Zevachim 53b gives as the reason for this lack of base on the south-eastern corner – the ground on which this un-built south-eastern base must have rested was not situated in the province of Binyamin. For, according to the view that the territory of Jerusalem was also apportioned to the tribes like the rest of the land and was not kept as common national domain, the dividing line of the borders of the provinces of Yehuda and Binyamin passed just across from the Mount of the Temple. The whole of the approach on the east side as well as the side-halls, to which the seat of the Sanhedrin also belonged, and the three antechambers; the women's courtyard, the Israelites' courtyard and the priests' courtyard up to the altar, were all in the province of Yehuda. But the site of the altar itself and all the Temple to the west of it, the whole of the Sanctuary, including the Holy of Holies, lay in the province of Binyamin. The Maharsha in Zevachim points out that from Shoftim 1:8 and 21 it is also apparent that both Yehuda and Binyamin must have had part in Jerusalem, and this also appears in the description of the apportioning of the Land in Yehoshua 15:8 and 18:28. In the "blessing of Moshe," too, Binyamin follows immediately after Yehuda, with Levi between the two as partaking of the character on either side. To Yehuda is allocated the power of the State (Devarim 33:7), to Binyamin (ibid. v. 12) the protective proximity of God – the Shekhina. Levi (v. 10) takes part in both – "They shall teach Yaakov Your judgments," in the Sanhedrin belonging to the province of Yehuda, and "they shall put incense before You," in the position of the altar in that of Binyamin. According to this tradition, it was not in the province of the lion-hearted ruling tribe, but in that of the smallest one that the National Sanctuary stood, and as far as the base stretched over into the province of the royal Yehuda, it was left unfinished. Hereby was expressed the deeply significant fact, confirmed by the whole of Jewish history and disclosing its final goal: in Israel, the highest power of the State should of course be permeated with the spirit of the Torah and consider that it is based solely and solidly on the Torah and that its sole function is to direct the nation to keeping the Divine Torah. On this power of the State, the south and east base of the altar should rest firmly. But this combination of power and spirituality is a thing of the future. It is only the future "sprout from the stem of Yishai" of the tribe of Yehuda, who will combine the highest degree of power with the highest degree of intellect and spirituality. Moreover, it is just his very spirituality which will give him his power (Yeshayahu 11:1). He will be the one who at last will be "a priest on the kingly throne" (Zekharya 6:13). Throughout the course of the whole Jewish History it has been seldom that the royal power looked on itself as priestly and behaved accordingly. Only seldom did the spirit of the Torah, and the nation as the nation of the Torah, find its foundation on the base of royalty –  the foundation of the southern and eastern base of the altar which stretched over into Yehuda's domain remained unfinished, incomplete.

Accordingly, as there was no foundation on the south-eastern corner of the altar, the depositing of the blood of the burnt-offering which had to be done on two diagonally opposite corners could only be done on the east-north and west-south corners.

 

            In the continuation, R. Hirsch discusses the significance of north and south, and in the end he relates to the reason for sprinkling the blood on the south-eastern and south-western corners:

 

Circumcision, the subordination and consecration of the material-sensuousness, is the preliminary condition for the moral existence of the nation, and the preliminary condition for the moral existence of each individual Jew. Slaughter in the north and receiving the blood in the north, the cessation of the uncontrolled selfish life of the senses, and its being accepted under the guidance of the Sanctuary of the Torah, is the preliminary condition for being raised out of every moral deficiency. The "slaughtered one" awaiting resurrection to a higher moral life is first brought in the south, under the rays of the enlightening mind. From the south, it is taken to the east to bring to its consciousness that every individual belongs to "the nation of the Torah." Then, as its first activity, by being placed on the corner which strives upwards above the east-north base, the true estimation of the value of all the physical-material things of life and the use to which they are to be put, is demanded to be made from the point of view of one's belonging to the national community. This gives the physical-material its first consecration. Everything material and pertaining to the senses is first elevated out of the jurisdiction of physical compulsion into the realm of free-willed morality as soon as the breath of selfishness is stripped from it, and it enters the service of one's brother-man, and is used for the purposes of the general community. A penny, worked for, earned, and spent entirely for oneself is no higher than the food that an animal takes to eat. But used to help a fellow-creature to live, or even earned and used to keep oneself alive for others, it belongs to the realm, to the moral free-willed realm of duty, love and holiness. For it is not just the idea of belonging to a community in general; it is the consciousness of the national Jewish calling of belonging to the Torah that is awakened by the east side of the Temple. This Torah teaches everywhere not the doing away with the material and sensual, but demands, in the very first place, the utilization of every phase of our material and sensual life for the realization of holy purposes. It demands the coupling of all that is material, sensual, and earthly with the moral, free, godly, eternal, "the planting of the heavenly, and the elevation of the earthly up to heavenly imperishableness," as the Prophet puts it (Yeshayahu  51:16). This is the sum-total of the Jewish national calling, and so the life of the senses which had first been killed in the "the pure north" celebrates, by means of an enlightenment it had gained in the "south," its godly-human resurrection in the upward-striving corner of the east-north base.

Proceeding always to the right from the north to the west, this "creature of the spiritualized senses" is now taught to apply all the powers he possesses, all that has been granted to him on the "table" of his material existence, to the realization of the Divine Torah, which rests in the west beneath the wings of the keruvim. For this purpose, it is brought home to him, on the corner striving upwards over the west-south base, that his second activity must be devoting his whole life to his mental development, to his clear understanding of the meaning and spirit of the Torah – that "you shall meditate upon them day and night" is the indispensable condition for all future progress towards the moral heights. Unselfishness in one's material life and devoting one's mental life to clear understanding of the Torah are the two energies to which one must devote one's activities. It – the lack of these in the past and their fulfillment in the future – is what is preached by the two sprinklings that are four on the north-eastern and south-western corners, and by this is achieved atonement for the previous slackness, and help to the one who is trying and seeking to get nearer to God in his earthly life.

 

            R. Elie Munk also deals with the significance of the directions in connection with the sprinkling of the blood on the altar:

 

We follow in our subsequent explanation those of the Kabbalist commentators (see the siddur of the Shela) who find in the 12 (or 13) intermediate blessings an exact replica of the blood-offering on the altar, while the three preparatory and three concluding blessings obviously serve as the introduction and conclusion respectively.

The precept for the daily offering (a burnt-offering from the flock) reads as follows: "And the priests, Aharon's sons, shall sprinkle its blood round about on the altar" (Vayikra 1:11). According to the traditional interpretation, this means "two sprinklings that are four" (Zevachim 53b, Mishna Tamid 4:1). The priest approached the northeast corner of the altar and poured blood on it. The blood thus ran over both the east and the north sides. He walked around the altar till he reached the southwest corner. Then he repeated the act on the west and south sides, thus completing the rite round about on the altar. Now, it seems an accepted fact, confirmed in Biblical and traditional literature, that each one of the four sides of the altar and indeed of the four points of the compass, possesses a definite and specific ritualistic significance. Each always represents the same or a related idea. The east, for instance, as is evident from many passages of Jewish literature, symbolized the spirit (Bamidbar Rabba, 2, "the east from which light shines on the world"). This is shown by the position of the candlestick placed at the east wall of the sanctuary. The north, the side where the table with the showbread was placed in the sanctuary, represents material prosperity (Iyov 37:22, "from the north, gold comes"). Towards the west, we always look for the Shekhina ("the Shekhina is always in the west;” Zevachim 118b), while the south, where the sun rises to its zenith, is considered the source of the beneficial forces of fertility (Bamidbar Rabba, 2, "the south from which dew of blessing comes into the world"). According to this view, then, the north-eastern corner of the altar is the meeting place of the spiritual and material powers of the individual, while the south-western corner symbolized the same forces as they affect the community (Shekhina and fertility), The sprinkling of the blood on the 4 corners of the altar then expresses the readiness of the worshipper to surrender the powers of his body and spirit, both as an individual and as a member of the nation to the Divine. The twelve intermediate blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei – which, we said, correspond to the offering of the blood – contain, as we shall presently show, four groups of three blessings each of which correspond to the two sprinklings that are four, and refer to the spiritual and physical forces of the individual and the nation.

However, this connection between the four basic categories of forces and the four points of the compass is not a mere symbolism. It is, rather a profound insight according to which the basic harmonies of the cosmos, rest on a firmly established order held in check by the interaction of the forces of nature. As the interaction of the streams of power flowing from all four directions produces an equilibrium in nature, so in the affairs of men, the proper cooperation of all forces for the good of society has its basis in a meaningful and harmonious Divinely established order.

The ideal exemplification of this order was the encampment of the twelve tribes round the Sanctuary in the desert. This in turn has its ultimate prototype in the Divine Throne itself, supported by the four keruvim. This order has, therefore, timeless significance, and the scale of values revealed and reflected in it was adopted by our Sages when they set out to arrange the petition man makes in his prayer, for the good and benefits he needs. As we now proceed to describe the arrangement in detail, we shall follow the course from east to west (as did the priest on the altar) and encircle the Sanctuary. It is the same direction the firmament follows, traversing its daily course from east to west, paying homage in the immutability of its measured rhythm to its Creator (see Nechemya 9:6; Bava Batra 25a). (The World of Prayer, vol. 1, pp. 123-125)

 

CONCLUSION

 

            We have tried to demonstrate here that the idea of the Shekhina being in the west, and the east-west orientation of the Mishkan and the Mikdash, is not a technical issue. It began in the Garden of Eden, and according to the Rambam, Avraham chose the west at the Akeida, and so too at Mount Sinai, and afterwards in the Mishkan and the Mikdash.

 

            We shall discuss later the spiritual meaning of this determination, based both on the polar opposition to idol worship, which was directed eastward in the direction of the sun, and on bowing down of all of creation before God. We saw various different expressions of this principle in the structure and service of the Mikdash.

 

            It is interesting that when Chazal wish to give expression to the continued resting of the Shekhina in the place, they say:

 

R. Acha said: The Shekhina never left the western wall, as it is stated: "Behold, he stands behind our wall" (Shemot Rabba 2,2)

 

The reference here is to the western wall of the Mikdash itself, which is closest to the site of the resting of the Shekhina in the Holy of Holies.

 

            It should be noted that this issue is far broader than that of the Shekhina in the west, as it found expression in the Mikdash and as we shall see later at length. All of Scripture indicates that distancing oneself or removal from before God expresses itself in going eastward.

 

            We must also consider the question whether the situation in which the Shekhina is in the west is the ideal situation, or whether it too is a consequence of the sin of Adam, when the Shekhina moved to the west from the east where the light first appears, and where there should have been a correspondence between the appearance of the light and the appearance of the Shekhina.

 

            We shall deal with all these issues in the coming shiurim.

 

(Translated by David Strauss)

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