Tuesday, December 10, 2024

The Position of the Bed

 https://outorah.org/p/49936/

Berachos (5b)  Abba Binyamin would say: All of my life I have taken great pains with regard to two things: That my prayer should be before my bed and that my bed should be placed north to south.

Mishneh Torah (The Chosen Temple 7:9)  At all times, a person may not defecate or sleep [with his body positioned] between the east and the west. It is superfluous to state that one should not place a toilet between the east and the west in any place [throughout the world,] for the Temple is in the west. Therefore, one should not defecate to the west nor to the east, for it is opposite the west. Rather, we should always defecate and sleep [with our bodies] to the north and south.

Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 3:6) Likewise, it is forbidden to sleep from west to east, if one's wife is with him. And it is proper to be cautious even when one's wife is not with him.


Tur,(Orach Chaim 3)And when he sits he should orient himself so that he faces to the south with his behind to the north, but should not sit between the east and west.  However, this is specifically where he relieves himself in an open area, but in a place in which there are barriers, such as a bathroom which is in a house, he need not be so exacting. 

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 According to kabbala, it is actually the width of the bed which should be positioned from north to south and the length of the bed which should be positioned from east to west.[12] This arrangement is based on kabbalistic considerations relating to the placements of the "sefirot."[13] Although a number of authorities have attempted to resolve this blatant contradiction,[14] it is simply irreconcilable.[15] Even though as a general rule, whenever there is a dispute between halacha and kabbala we are to follow halacha,[16] a number of authorities feel that in this particular situation the kabbalistic approach should be followed.[17] Some authorities suggest that the whole issue of how one should position one's bed all depends on one's geographical location in the world in relation to Jerusalem.[18]


Rabbi Freifeld told me that for the bed in a room in a house it doesn't matter

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