Depending on our mood, whether we have done other good deeds that day, what’s on TV tonight, whether our football team is playing or not and what’s for supper, we may get in the car, drive off and be the most popular man in the Shul or just stay at home.
A minyan is an intriguing concept. If we really value the Amidah, the silent meditation, as the central point of Tefillah (prayer), why do we have to do it with 9 other people? We can concentrate much better on our own surely? No one to talk to, nothing to look at and no need to worry who’s going to take the services, what kind of voice he has and how long it will take?
Firstly, let us understand the seriousness of what we are doing. To stand upright in front of a King and make our requests (and not just any old requests – we ask for big things like full health, rebuilding of the Temple and peace to Israel!!) is an awesome responsibility. If we just did it on our own, how can we, with all our faults, be taken seriously?
Davening alongside other people allows us to bypass this problem. We aren’t seen as individuals with our merits and failures, which could influence whether our prayers will be accepted; rather we all blend into one community. We learn from Avraham’s attempt to find 10 men in Sodom that that is the minimum number for a community.
But one of the most beautiful concepts of a minyan is that however devoted you are as a Jew, you can never fulfil your obligation to pray to Hashem in full unless you have 9 other willing men to do it with. Even though when you have a minyan you can reach your own personal heights of spirituality and become close with Hashem by concentrating on your Amidah; as long as there is no minyan, you do not have the same ability. This leads to possibly one of the greatest concepts about Judaism: Each person has their own unique potential but it can only be realised within a community.
This fits into a wider concept of ‘Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh LaZeh’ (all Israel are guarantors for one another). This principle is behind the halacha that one can say kiddush for someone who has not heard it yet even after he has said it for himself. In fact, one could say kiddush 100 times on Friday night as long as you are fulfilling other people’s obligations!!
However, you might ask, that’s not fair! Why is it that I don’t get to fulfil my obligation just because someone else isn’t helping me out? The answer is simple: the mission statement of the Jewish people is not to be a nation of individuals with some better or more devoted than others. Rather it is to be a single nation with a single purpose, which is to reflect the oneness of Hashem and His ways onto the world through the study and practice of the Torah to make it a better place.
Which is why next time, when it’s the choice between watching the football or being part of G-d’s plan for the world, helping us to become better people, sensitive to the needs of those around us, we know what to choose!
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