Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

While we at Beth Emeth have convened for weekday morning and evening prayer over the past few months, we have done so without calling our gathering a Minyan.

Traditionally, a Minyan necessitates that the minimum of ten share a physically shared space. During this exigent time caused by Covid-19, some congregations have treated on line services as a Minyan. Others, like Beth Emeth, have not done so.

Some synagogues have begun to re-open slowly. Others, like Beth Emeth, are in the planning stages. We hope to re-open during the Summer weeks carefully, at first starting with weeknight services only. Over time, we intend to expand to weekday morning services and subsequently into Shabbat and Holy day services. Once we can safely conduct a service in shul in the presence of a Minyan, we plan to broadcast those services for the rest of us to connect to from home.

Like many of you, I long for the presence of a physical Minyan praying together in a shared space. It is interesting to note that one of the Talmudic deductions for requiring the number ten is found in last week's and this week's Torah portion. Based on the exegetical principle called a Gezerah Shavah, the Biblical prooftext harkens to the story of the ten chieftains, who brought a negative report about the land of Israel to the people. It could be that just as ten people can divide a community, so too, ten people can unite a community.

In a different Talmudic source, the potentially ten righteous of Sodom and Gomorrah become the prooftext for a Minyan. Still, a different Talmudic text proves the number ten from the ten older brothers of Joseph, who went down to Egypt during a time of famine.

The three interpretive methods which link Minyan to the tribal chieftains, the would be righteous in the twin evil cities, or Joseph's older brothers, all teach the potential of ten people, in these ancient tales, to affect the nature of a community.

I yearn for the gathering of a Minyan in shul and pray that our public gatherings for prayer will impact us only for the good.

Rabbi Howard Morrison