[Avodah] Street Minyanim

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, May 17, 2020 at 08:15:55PM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> Getting back to the thread's topic of "street minyanim", I remember once
> asking, many decades ago, about a particular shita which allowed a child to
> be the tenth for a minyan, but only if it was a sh'as had'chak. I asked
> what "sh'as had'chak" means in this context; wouldn't it apply to *every*
> case of where only nine show up? ...

> The answer I got (which the chevra may or may not agree with) is that not
> all such cases are the same...

I had to make a call on this one. I was running minyanim for Yamim Noraim
in a failing O shul of what was once a sizable community in Massachussets.
It's Yom Kippur, the case came up, there was no one to ask.

One time, as I turned around for the qaddish between Yizkor and Mussaf,
people slipped out and we lost the minyan.

Everyone in the congregation (if not, nearly so) also belonged to the
local C-nagogue. And I was afraid that not having a minyan that year
would accelerate the shul's demise, and people wouldn't even plan on
showing up next year.

(The shul did have minyan and other programming during the year when the
Chabad shaliach from a college some towns over would organize something
for them.)

But it was only because of that fear that it would end O minyanim in this
town years earlier than otherwise that I considered it a she'as hadechaq.
And had an 11 yr old boy (the only boy there) hold a sefer Torah.

As a side-note: The boy was still proud the next year that he helped
make the minyan. I hope it gave him some significant push to stay more
affiliated. But I can't say I foresaw that outcome.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Today is the 46th day, which is
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   6 weeks and 4 days in/toward the omer.
Author: Widen Your Tent      Netzach sheb'Malchus: How can some forms of
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                       "unity" be over domineering?