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Question
If I am out of town with a group of 7 men doing kiruv on rosh hashono am I exempt from davening with minyan
Answer
Hello, It is proper to make an effort and invite three more people so that there will be a minyan for the Rosh Hashanah prayers. If you mean that there are seven other men besides yourself, making a total of eight, it is also appropriate to even pay money to bring two more people in order to complete the minyan (see Shulchan Aruch O.C. 55:21–22). If this is not possible, you are exempt from praying with a minyan. It should be noted that it is preferable to blow the shofar for others and pray individually, rather than to pray with a minyan while others will not have someone to blow the shofar for them (Halichot Shlomo 11:2). However, it seems that if you do not have a shofar, you are obligated to go to a place where there is a shofar (see Shulchan Aruch O.C. 595 and 585:7). Further elaboration: The Shulchan Aruch (55:22) writes: “One is not compelled to hire people to complete a minyan, except on the High Holidays, and only when one or two people are missing. However, if there is an established and well-known custom in the city to compel hiring even when three or four are missing, that custom applies. If there is already a minyan among the town residents, they may compel each other to hire a chazzan.” The Mishnah Berurah (70) explains: “If there are eight or nine people, they can compel one another not to remain and pray individually; however, if one of them wishes to go to another place where there is already a minyan, they cannot compel him at all.” This law is mentioned specifically regarding the High Holidays. During the rest of the year, the townspeople are not compelled to ensure that there is a minyan. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach explained that although for any rabbinic mitzvah one is generally obligated to spend money in order to fulfill it, the obligation of communal prayer is different, and there is no requirement to spend money for it. This is similar to the obligation to travel for a minyan, which Chazal limited to up to four mil ahead and less than one mil behind (cited in Mishnah Acharonah 55:181).
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