Prayer and Blessings
Is there an obligation to go to the synagogue to pray with a minyan?
Is there an obligation to go to the synagogue to pray with a minyan?
Question
Hello,
I wanted to know about the obligations to go to the synagogue to pray with a minyan, and how one who does not go is regarded, etc., if possible in a detailed way.
All the best, thank you.
Answer
Greetings,
This is the language of the Shulchan Aruch (section 90, paragraph 9): A person should endeavor to pray in the synagogue with the congregation, and if he is compelled and cannot come to the synagogue, he should intend to pray at the time when the congregation is praying. Likewise, if he was compelled and did not pray at the time when the congregation prayed, and he is praying alone, even so he should pray in the synagogue.
And it is written there (paragraph 11): One who has a synagogue in his city and does not enter it to pray is called a bad neighbor and brings exile upon himself and his children. And the Mishnah Berurah wrote (small print 39) that anyone who goes early and stays late in the synagogue merits long life, as it is stated (Proverbs 8:34): "Happy is the man who listens to me, to watch at my doors day by day," and it is written afterward (ibid. 8:35): "For whoever finds me finds life" etc.
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
