Q&A: Prayer with a Minyan
Prayer with a Minyan
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Is it possible for me to rely on Maimonides, since his words seem to indicate quite plainly that there is not really a halakhic obligation to pray with a minyan, and that when necessary, and from time to time, I may pray alone?
Thank you!
Answer
That does emerge from quite a few sources. Even in the Shulchan Arukh there is no truly explicit statement, although I recall two proofs that he nevertheless does view it as an obligation. Amoraim and medieval authorities (Rishonim) prayed alone, and my impression is that this was completely normative for them. Nowadays people tend to treat this as a halakhic obligation, but it seems to me that at least when necessary there is certainly room to be lenient.
Discussion on Answer
It is scattered among the medieval authorities (Rishonim), mainly in tractate Berakhot. I don’t have time right now to look for specific sources. Already in the Talmud there is discussion of praying alone, as in the passage about between the pillars, and so on. This was already discussed here once, and you can search for it.
They bring proof from the ruling that one must walk 4 mil or go back 1 mil… Some medieval authorities (Rishonim) explain this as referring to ritual handwashing, and some as referring to a minyan… Also from the fact that one may free a slave in order to complete a minyan because it is a “commandment of the many” (though that also is not absolute proof, since this is certainly at most a rabbinic commandment, and if so one could say that it is a public need, but not that it is truly an obligation)….
What are the sources that the medieval authorities (Rishonim) prayed alone?