DOES one have to pray with a minyan? Is it not better to pray alone
at one’s own pace rather than praying in a minyan which speeds ahead?
PRAYER is a double-sided coin.
On the one hand, prayer is best defined by Rambam laws of Tephilah
1:1 as “avodah” which means service, worship or perhaps better described
as obligated work.
On the other hand, philosophically speaking, prayer is a joy, a moment in time where we meet and have “us” time with our Maker.
As R’ Yehudah Halevi described it in his Kuzari 3:5, prayer is like the seed and the fruit together, where all hours lead to the hour of prayer.
However, the coin of language used in prayer, the words and their order were set out by our sages in a unique way.
It was they who established the concept of tephilah betzibbur – prayer with a congregation, i.e. a minyan.
Rambam Laws of Tephilah Chapter 8 states: “Communal prayer is always heard. Even if there are sinners among them the Almighty does not spurn their prayer”.
Rambam goes on to say that a person should endeavour to pray with the congregation so that his prayer shall be answered even when one sins.
What we need to find out is the following: Is prayer in a minyan – i.e. a congregation – an obligation or a preferred mode of conduct where, if there are other factors involved, we would conclude that praying with the community is not an absolute necessity.
The Talmud Berachot 47:b defines praying in a minyan as a mitzva of the community.
It relates that R’ Eliezer needed to do something prohibited in order to be able to pray with the congregation rather than alone. Teaching that it is always preferable to pray in a minyan rather than alone.
Indeed, Shulchan Aruch YD 267:79 rules accordingly.
A fascinating question was posed to the great posek (halachic authority) R’ Moshe Feinstein in his Igrot Moshe OC 2:27 where he was asked by a Torah scholar the following:
“I learn Torah till late at night and find it hard to wake up in the morning in time for the morning minyan.”
The questioner goes on to explain that since night-time is the best time for him to learn for various reasons, and in order to ensure that he could wake up in time for communal prayers, he would have to cut his learning short.
Is he therefore allowed to pray alone without a minyan so that he can learn longer hours at night?
R’ Moshe answers that one has an obligation to pray in a minyan even if it means praying with less devotion and intensity.
One must pray in a minyan even if it comes at the price of sacrificing other worthwhile endeavours, even Torah study.
To conclude: One must pray with a minyan even when it’s difficult to rise and even where there is a sacrifice in other areas, such as Torah study or intensity of prayer.
It is only where one cannot – for circumstances beyond his control – make the minyan that one should pray alone.
The column that offers everything you always wanted to know about Judaism but were afraid to ask. Rabbi Chaim Kanterovitz is minister of the Yeshurun Hebrew Congregation, Gatley, Cheshire.
E-MAIL: askrabbi@jewishtelegraph.com