Halakhah for Berakhot 122:12
ת"ר הנפנה ביהודה לא יפנה מזרח ומערב אלא צפון ודרום ובגליל לא יפנה אלא מזרח ומערב ורבי יוסי מתיר שהיה ר' יוסי אומר לא אסרו אלא ברואה ובמקום שאין שם גדר ובזמן שהשכינה שורה וחכמים אוסרים
Our Rabbis have taught : He who wishes to exercise his natural functions, if in Judea he should not face East or West but North or South ; if in Galilee, he should only face East or West. R. Jose, however, permits it [in any direction] because he used to say that the prohibition only applies to one who can see [the Temple], when there is no barrier, and at the time when the Shekinah rests [upon the Sanctuary]. But the Sages prohibit it.
Sefer HaChinukh
From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Megillah 28b) that a person may only enter any of the Temple Mount for the matter of a commandment. And anyone who has finished his service in the [Temple] and retires, walks backwards a little at a time; and so [too,] the men of the shift, the men of the watch and the Levites from their platforms, would leave like this from the Temple. And [also] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berachot 61b) [that] it is always forbidden to defecate or sleep between east and west, because the Sanctuary is in the West. And so [too,] (Rosh Hashanah 24a) is it forbidden for a person to build a house in the form of the Sanctuary, nor a portico in the form of the chamber nor a courtyard in the form of the [Temple] yard. And all of this is from the awe of the place. And the rest of the details of the honor of the [Temple] and its awe are in Middot and Tamid (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of The Chosen Temple 7).
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