[Avodah] Keeping Up With The Tsibbur

[Jay F Shachter]

On Thu, 5 Mar 2009 18:41:58 +0200, Efraim Yawitz <efraim.yawitz at gmail.com>
made the following comment (technically, a question, not a comment) on
our sister mailing list, Areivim; I have redirected my response to
Avodah, where I believe the discussion more properly belongs:

> 
> On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 6:53 AM, <T613K at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>> BTW about how to have kavana in Shmoneh Esrei when you are speeding
>> through the davening to keep up with the minyan -- somebody once
>> asked my father zt'l about that and he replied that he had the same
>> problem (!!) and that you should concentrate on one thing, one word
>> or one idea for each paragraph.
>>
>
> Who says you have to keep up with the minyan?  If you start Shmoneh
> Esrei with them, can't you take as long as you want?
>

No.

If you do, you are preventing people from walking in front of you, and
you are preventing anyone within 4 amot of you from sitting down.  If
you take longer to complete the Amida than the tsibbur does, then you
are, at best, thoughtless, rude, and inconsiderate, unless you first
stick yourself in a corner more than 4 amot away from everyone else,
and that applies to both men and women.


			Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
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