Prayer and forgiveness in private

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asked 9 years ago

Is it permissible to initially say Selichot in the singular?

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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago

Saying Selichot is a custom, and it was customary to say it in public. But this does not detract from the prayer, which can also be said individually, even though it was customary to say it in public. —————————————————————————————— Asks: If they used to say them in public, isn’t the custom itself binding? (You won’t forget, the custom of Israel is law, etc.), and if it is binding, what did you mean when you said that it is possible to say them in private? —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: Indeed, they used to say them in public. But in prayers, they also said this, and therefore, from the explanation, it seems that the selichot, which are a custom, are not superior to the prayers, which are a law. Hence, even if they usually used to say them in public, the essence of the custom is the actual saying and the public does not hinder. For the same reason, it is also permissible to say them not in the synagogue, even though they usually used to say them in the synagogue. This is not a major detail in the custom. —————————————————————————————— Asks: Is there any problem with saying the entire text of the Selichot in the singular (Nefilat Efiyim, 13 Midots, sections in Aramaic, etc.)? Or should certain sections be omitted? You wrote above that prayer is also permitted to be prayed individually to begin with. How does this align with what is written in the Rambam: “Public prayer is always heard; even if there were sins in it, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not disdain the prayers of many. Therefore, a person must share himself with the public, and not pray alone, whenever he can pray in public. And a person should always get up and go to the synagogue, because a person’s prayer is not heard at all times, except in the synagogue. And anyone who has a synagogue in his city and does not enter it to pray is called a bad neighbor.” And it seems to me that the other poskim also follow this line that public prayer is obligatory. —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: 13 virtues are said only in public. On the contrary, the Rambam’s language is that it is not an obligation but a virtue. Even in the Shulchan Aruch, it does not appear as an obligation (although some have interpreted it this way, and I am not sure that there is any truth to it).

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אורן replied 8 years ago

Following on from this question, is it obligatory to hear the Torah reading in public on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat?

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

Regarding Ke”t, the poskim disagreed on whether it is obligatory on the public or on each individual. It seems to me that if there is no obligation to pray in public, then there is also no obligation to recite Ke”t in public. But there is certainly an issue like praying in public.
See a review here:
http://din.org.il/2015/01/22/%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%90%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94-%D7%97%D7%95%D7%91%D7%AA-%D7%99%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93-%D7%90%D7%95-%D7%97%D7%95%D7%91%D7%AA-%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A8/
His conclusion that there is a duty on every individual to ensure that the public fulfills its duty is consistent with what I wrote in the article Good Measure, Principles of Meta-Halakhic Thinking (P’ Stands and Walks) Here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwJAdMjYRm7IY0xlc1dmYTMweVE