Commentary for Berakhot 12:19
אמר אביי לא אמרן אלא דלא מהדר אפיה לבי כנישתא אבל מהדר אפיה לבי כנישתא לית לן בה
Abbai said : This applies only to one who does not turn his face towards the Synagogue ; but if he does that, we can have no objection.
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
Wiesner, p. 18, finds here an attack on sun-worshippers (cf. fol. 7a, p. 37). Rab Huna, being a Babylonian, the Ark in his Synagogue would be in the West (see fol. 30 a, p. 197); therefore to pray with the back to the Synagogue would be praying towards the rising sun. Cf. Ezek. viii. 16.
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