[Avodah] Sh'as hadchak (was Street Minyanim)

[Isaac Balbin]

On 20 May 2020, at 9:16 pm, RZS wrote:
> I can't speak to what other people do, but my father told me that when 
> the Yeshivah was in Burwood they often couldn't get a minyan and asked 
> the LR about using a katan as the tenth, and the reply was that they 
> were not to do so under any circumstances

Let's see. The LR would commonly advise his Chassidim to ask a Rav for
halachic questions. He chose when not to do so and proffer his view. In
this case he didn't suggest they ask a Rav. It could be that this was
about not accepting an outcome which implied they were limited and
"unable" to expand to 10. For Chassidim in a new environment with a
invested task of growth, it's possible (and I'm guessing) that the LR
suggested they grow and "find that permanent 10th". That may be different
to Timbuktu where there is not the expectation of growth in a city full
of Jews, like Melbourne. In other words, that could have been a specific
answer for a specific time to a specific project. Did the LR mention
this in eg his Shaarei Halacha uMinhag or elsewhere as a traditional
policy in Lubavitch from the times of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav?