[Avodah] Torah Geography & Dream Brachos

[Zev Sero]

Micha Berger wrote:

> I don't think it was confusion. Rather, one needs to enter an entirely
> different worldview. We see the world in terms of maps, and therefore
> think geometrically. Without maps, the world becomes more of a network of
> relationships. Travel paths between nodes. IOW, the confusion is in the
> communication across the centuries; in thinking we mean the same thing
> -- we're talking vectors, they're talking travel routes. The disjoin is
> not between R' Chanina's description and reality.
> 
> To get from EY to Bavel, one would normally travel the Fertile
> Cresecent. Thus, the path from EY to Bavel did head NE, as did the chain
> of Rosh Chodesh fire signals. And that's what NE would mean to R' Chanina;
> not a vector in space.

I already covered this.  R Chanina reasoned that since the pasuk says
Bavel is north of EY it followed that EY must be south of Bavel, and
that's how Bavlim should face in prayer.  But if direction was to be
determined by the route one would take to EY, then that reasoning flies
out the window; and R Chanina was certainly wrong, because in that sense
Bavel and EY are *both* north of each other.  The route from EY to Bavel
heads north, but so does the route from Bavel to EY.

 
> Along related (but non-identical) lines...
> Is Israel SE or NE of the US? The Great Circle shortest path is NE.
> Traveling today, we head NE. However, I don't think that's common pesaq
> when setting up a shul.

It seems to me that this is just ignorance.  I can't think of any
justification for using a rhumb line, which is merely an artifact of
a particular method of navigation.  Either face NE, or towards the
highway that you would take to the nearest airport.


-- 
Zev Sero                    A mathemetician is a device for turning coffee
zev at sero.name               into theorems.                   - Paul Erdos