Fifty years ago, Rav Yechiel Zilber—in sefer Birur Halacha—argued that the direction of tefillah in the United States is not mizrach (east) but rather northeast. This assertion began a halachic debate as to what method should be used to determine the direction of tefillah in countries which are far from Eretz Yisrael.
At the heart of this debate lies a surprising fact: Because latitude lines are not straight lines as they appear on Mercator Maps—but rather circles around the north and south poles—a straight line on the globe cannot maintain one direction.
This means that a traveler who faces east, and then continues straight ahead for thousands of miles, will find that at some point on his journey, he is no longer facing east. He has traveled straight, but his direction has changed.
On the flip side, a traveler that travels east following a compass will not change direction. But he also will not be traveling straight.
So which method should be used to find the direction of tefillah? Should it be the method that goes to Eretz Yisrael without changing direction? Or should it be a straight line that goes to Eretz Yisrael with turning? We cannot have both.
The method that maintains consistent direction is called the “Rhumb Line” method. Using the Rhumb Line, one in New York would daven facing approximately east.
The method that maintains a straight line is called the “Great Circle” method. Using the Great Circle, one in New York would daven facing approximately northeast.
Rabbi Yosef Weisenfeld’s “Derech Hair” presents a rigorous halachic analysis that challenges the established practice of American Jews facing east during prayer. Through meticulous research combining spherical geometry with classic rabbinic sources, Rabbi Weisenfeld demonstrates that northeast is the proper direction for prayer in locations like New York—a conclusion with far-reaching implications for shul architecture and individual prayer practice.
Core Halachic Questions And Historical Debates
The sefer addresses fundamental questions about prayer orientation by examining several key halachic debates:
The Levush (Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, 1530-1612) insists on exact directional alignment toward Yerushalayim: One must face precisely toward Jerusalem, not merely in its general direction. In contrast, the Divrei Chamudos (Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, 1579-1654) permits a more approximate approach: In this view, it is sufficient to face the general direction of the east, as this orientation encompasses Jerusalem.
This centuries-old disagreement between the Levush and Divrei Chamudos over directional precision takes on new urgency when viewed through the lens of spherical geometry. It takes on family minhagim too—for my family, especially. Through their mother’s side they are direct descendants of the Divrei Chamudos and through their father, they are 12th-generation descendants from the Levush.
Rabbi Yosef Weisenfeld, presents this fascinating debate using pictures and clear explanations. Derech Ha’Ir focuses specifically on what the Acharonim wrote about this topic—including such greats as the Levush, Shulchan Aruch HaRav and Yaavetz—and after clearing up false premises, the sefer concludes that all Acharonim that discuss this topic hold of the Great Circle and, therefore, the proper direction of davening in New York is northeast.
This sefer will certainly ruffle some feathers, (already an anonymous letter of protest has been posted against this sefer throughout the Beth Medrash Govoha campuses in Lakewood, New Jersey) but one cannot deny that the author presents a solid and clearly explained case against the status quo, and that the sefer carries the weight of the haskamos of today’s top poskim.
In summary, this sefer is an extremely clear presentation of a fascinating and little-known topic, and is available in sefarim stores and at Feldheim.com/Derech-Ha-Ir.
The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com
