The Place of the Shekhina in the Consciousness of the Worshipper / מקום השכינה בתודעת המתפלל

The Shemone Esre prayer must be recited while the worshipper is conscious that he is standing before God and turning directly to Him. This halakhic injunction, unique to the Shemone Esre prayer, thus requires a clear idea of the locus of the Divine presence, the Shekhina, towards which the worshipper must turn. In Talmudic literature we find three approaches to the placing of the locus of the Divine presence in the consciousness of the worshipper: (a) in the location of the Temple; (b) in the heavens; and (c) by the side of the worshipper and in the synagogue. The halakhic and aggadic sources recognize the existence of these three congruent foci, despite their differing phenomenological and historical origins. The article indicates the different approaches and their halakhic and religious basis, and attempts to investigate the source from which they sprung, as well as their later cohesion and integration into the framework of obligatory normative prayer.