Ask the Rabbi: Sacrificing Davening to be the Tenth Man | Rabbi Daniel Mann | Beit Midrash

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Question: Before entering my minyan, on time, someone from the vatikin minyan at a neighboring shul begged me to join them, a few minutes before netz. I reluctantly joined. I could not catch up for Shemoneh Esrei, and started Shemoneh Esei after chazarat hashatz started. Was it right for me to join them?

Answer: Joining would make you sacrifice the following: 1) Not being part of a minyan for Shemoneh Esrei (see Living the Halachic Process (=LTHP) V,A-1). 2) Having to skip, daven quickly, start Shemoneh Esrei when you probably should not have (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 109:1) and/or have compromised concentration considering your need to be at good places to answer devarim sheb’kedusha. 3) Makom kavu’a, perhaps (LTHP I,A-1). Your "hosts" gain was only moderate because: 1) Vatikin without a minyan (LTHP II,A-5) done in shul (LTHP V,A-3) has significant value without a minyan; 2) The level of their tefilla b’tzibbur with you lagging behind is questionable (LTHP VII, A-2). 3) The likelihood of their having enough people answering all of chazarat hashatz is shaky (LTHP I,A-10; VI,A-8). Presumably, most of them could have davened at a later minyan, although we can imagine their inconvenience/disappointment.

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There is a broad rule that while we should go to significant lengths to help others, one’s own interests have precedence. Examples – One saves his own life first before another’s (Bava Metzia 62a); one should not sin even a small sin in order to save another from a bigger sin (Shabbat 4a); one should not give more than 20% of his resources to tzedaka (Ketubot 50a); if only a k’zayit of matza is available for Seder night, one should try to get it for himself (Sha’arei Teshuva, OC 282:1). One would expect, then, that you should not sacrifice your tefilla to improve others’.

What the vatikin minyan had going for them is that Halacha gives great weight to the needs of a group of people who are just short of a minyan. The gemara (Berachot 47b) justifies releasing an eved k’na’ani, even if that is usually forbidden, so that he can become the tenth man for a minyan, calling the minyan a mitzva of the rabim. (Rishonim, including Tosafot, Bava Batra 13a, deal with the apparent contradiction to the rule not to sin for another’s religious gain; this is beyond our present scope.)

Closer to home, the Rama (OC 55:22, based on the Rivash 518) rules that one can force a tenth man in town to come to shul to ensure a minyan. The presence of a minyan in a community is powerful and the lack thereof "upsets" Hashem (Berachot 6a-b). Some claim that this is only for the only minyan in town (Aruch Hashulchan, OC 55:26). Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe, OC III:16) is among several poskim (see LTHP VI,A-3) who learn from the following ruling that it is important to strengthen shuls even when there are other minyanim in town. The Eliya Rabba (55:22, brought by the Mishna Berura 55:73) cites a ruling that yeshiva students should daven in the local shul which needs them for a minyan rather than daven in their beit midrash, even though, theoretically, the members of the shul could have gone to the beit midrash. This is particularly instructive because the students were asked to sacrifice both their learning and their davening (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 90:18). On the other hand, these sources refer to cases where the minyan in need was important for the community and/or the "tenth man" had a connection to it (Shut B’er Sarim 34).

So, on the basic halachic level, you did not have to join the vatikin minyan. The "equation" is different if you are recruited to an avel’s minyan, whose creation is a special mitzva (see Pnei Baruch 10:(32)) even if they will not wait for you to catch up. If a minyan adds something significant to a neighborhood (e.g., it is the only vatikin minyan in a nice-sized community), sacrificing for it from time to time is laudable. Remember also that employing compassion and avoiding angering stressed-out minyan seekers should be quite a "Jewish thing." It is difficult to spell out clear guidelines.

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