Q&A: Joining a Minyan
Joining a Minyan
Question
Hello Rabbi, I’m on a military base without many religious people, and we have difficulty getting a minyan for Shacharit. Very often it happens that we have 8–9 people, and soldiers come to complete the minyan for us whose religious definition ranges from traditional to completely secular. Several times I tried to object to this and argue that they can’t be counted for a minyan because they do not observe the commandments. (It is worth noting that I have some suspicion that their trigger for completing the minyan for us is that it gives them a break from work… many times these are confined soldiers and the like.) I’d be happy to know what, in the Rabbi’s opinion, is the criterion I can use to determine whether a person is fit to be counted for a minyan or not.
Answer
It is generally accepted to include secular Jews in a minyan. My personal opinion is that if they do not believe, it is of no help whatsoever (like adding flowerpots). However, someone who does believe but does not observe commandments for whatever reason can join.
Therefore, you may perhaps rely on the view of the halakhic decisors who recognize them for a minyan (unlike my own opinion). According to my approach, in principle one must clarify whether they believe and whether they pray when they are there with you. This can be unpleasant, and perhaps one can rely on the assumption that if they join, apparently they do not see it as something meaningless, but in my opinion it is still preferable to clarify this gently.
We follow the majority, and all the surveys show that most Jews in the State of Israel believe.
However, counting Druze doesn’t work.