Praying with a Minyan

It is somewhat unclear whether or not praying with a minyan is truly an obligation or merely a recommended or meritorious practice. The confusion lies in the wording of the Shulchan Aruch in which Rabbi Yosef Karo writes that "one should make an effort to pray with a minyan".[1] Nevertheless, many contemporary halachic authorities insist that praying with a minyan is an outright obligation[2] and that the ambiguous wording of the Shulchan Aruch should simply be dismissed.[3] Indeed, some sources depict praying with a minyan greater than any mitzva of the Torah![4] Even one who feels that he would have greater concentration and focus by praying alone should still pray with a minyan,[5] though there are authorities who permit one to pray alone for these and other similar considerations which will ultimately better one's davening experience.[6]

Other authorities explain that while prayer with a minyan is certainly to be preferred, it cannot be declared an outright obligation.[7] There is also a somewhat surprising view that not only is there no obligation to daven with a minyan but that there is not even a mitzva in doing so.[8] According to most authorities, it is preferable for one to pray alone at a preferred time, rather than to pray with a minyan that is not careful to observe the proper zemanim, prayer times. For example, it is preferable to daven mincha alone before sunset rather than with a minyan which does so after sunset.[9]

One of the sources for the importance of ten people joining together in the service of God is derived from the episode of Avraham and the city Sodom.[10] We find that when Avraham realized that there weren't even ten righteous people in all of Sodom in whose merit the city could be spared from destruction he ceased pleading with God not to destroy it. He figured that if Sodom was a place where even a minyan couldn’t be gathered together for productive purposes then the city was not worth saving.[11]

There is a dispute among the halachic authorities as to how many people in the minyan must actually be praying at once in order for the prayer to be considered "praying with a minyan". Some authorities require that all ten people must be reciting the shemoneh esrei together in order for one's prayer to qualify as having been recited in a minyan.[12] Others authorities argue that it is sufficient if at least six out of ten individuals are praying together at once.[13]

One is required to travel up to eighteen minutes or so in order to be able to daven with a minyan, though one need not expend any more time than this.[14] One is also not required to absorb a financial loss in order to be able to daven with a minyan.[15] So too, one who prefers to daven precisely at sunrise ("vatikin") rather than with a minyan at a later hour is entitled to do so.[16] One should not arrange a minyan on an airplane if it will interfere with the flight attendants or the comfort of other passengers.[17]

In addition to the mitzva of praying with a minyan one also fulfills the mitzva of "…and I will be sanctified within Israel"[18] when one participates in the kaddish and kedusha responses. Contrary to popular misconception, the primary purpose of praying with a minyan is not in order to respond to kaddish or kedusha, but rather, in order to recite the shemoneh esrei together as a congregation.[19] As such, one who comes late for ma'ariv and arrives just as the congregation is about to commence the shemoneh esrei should recite the shemoneh esrei together with them. Afterwards one then recites the shema and its accompanying blessings. [20]Furthermore, there is also a mitzva to hear the reading of the Torah which is only possible in a minyan. Those who live in Israel fulfill an additional mitzva each day by participating in the birkat kohanim.

We are taught that the prayers of a congregation are always heard even if the congregation is comprised of sinners.[21]  Even the prayers of otherwise unworthy people are accepted when recited as part of a minyan. In fact, even one who does not have proper concentration during his prayers is nevertheless assured that his prayers will be heard. The prayers of a minyan are said to save the Jewish people from all forms of persecution. One who is careful to pray with a minyan is considered to be an "adam kasher", a "kosher" person. We are told that those who daven in a minyan will never need to worry where their sustenance will come from.[22] It is permitted to wake up another person if it is in order that they not miss praying with a minyan.[23] Although women are exempt from praying with a minyan, they are rewarded for doing so.[24]

[1] O.C. 90:9

[2] Aruch Hashulchan O.C. 90:20-21, Igrot Moshe O.C. 2:27

[3] Piskei Teshuvot 90:8. See there for a number of interpretations of the Shulchan Aruch's ambiguous wording. Cf. Minchat Yitzchak 7:6

[4] Shulchan Aruch Harav 90:17

[5] Igrot Moshe O.C. 3:7

[6] Perisha O.C. 101:7, cf. Biur Halacha 101 s.v. "D'ati", Shulchan Aruch Harav 101:3, Teshuvot V'hanhagot 2:62

[7] Az Nidberu 14:37, Yalkut Yosef Vol. 5 p.240. See also Rambam Tefilla 8:1, Teshuvot V'hanhagot 1:97, Magen Avraham O.C. 90:16

[8] Krach Shel Romi 7

[9] Mishna Berura 233:14

[10] Bereishit 18

[11] Ibn Ezra to Bereishit 18:28

[12] Mishna Berura 90:28

[13] Rambam Tefila 8:4, Mishna Berura 69:8

[14] Mishna Berura 90:52, Igrot Moshe O.C. 2:27

[15] Mishna Berura 90:29

[16] Biur Halacha O.C. 58 s.v. "Umitzva"

[17] Sheirit Yosef  7:3, Halichot Shlomo 8:4, note 12, Halachic Guide for the Passenger 9:1, Igrot Moshe O.C. 4:20

[18] Vayikra 23:32

[19] Mishna Berura 90:28

[20] O.C. 263:3. See also Mishna Berura 263:11

[21] Rambam Tefilla 8:1

[22] Piskei Teshuvot 90:8

[23] Chayei Adam 67:11. But see Teshuvot V’hanhagot 2:50 for an alternative approach.

[24] Sota 22a