“One of the 613 commandments of the Torah is the requirement to pray.  The Torah tells us in Deuteronomy that every Jew is required to ‘serve G-d with his whole heart and with his whole soul.’  The Talmud asks, ‘What is meant by serving G-d with one’s heart?’  It concludes that this verse means we are required to pray. “   (THE ART OF JEWISH PRAYER BY Yitzchok Kirzner with Lisa Aiken, The Judaica Press, Inc. New York © Copyright 1991, 2002 pg.20)

This brief paragraph is from one of the books I started reading on my journey to become a Cantor.  I grew up knowing and appreciating the importance of daily prayer along with a Minyan.  There are many prayers that we can only say when we have a quorum, a Minyan of ten adults.  There is something wonderful about joining others from a community in prayer.  As our voices all join together in singing the T’fillah, it is uplifting.

To me, it was always important that whether I belonged to, or worked in a Synagogue, that Synagogue had to have a daily Minyan.  Other than the Mitzvah (as stated above in the quote) to “… serve G-d with his whole heart…” there is something glorious in starting and ending your day with a core group devoted to prayer, to serving G-d with their hearts and souls. 

I have written previously about Daily Minyanim not being just for Mourners.  It is a wonderful way to start and end your day.  In our daily lives we sometimes forget about others, we forget about connecting with people, we forget about G-d.  We wake up, we go to work (or school), we do our duties, we come home, and we go to bed.  True there are other things we do, but in essence that is what we are doing. 

When we start our day with a community in prayer we are awake, we are energized, we can face the challenges the day presents to us.  When we end our day with a community in prayer we have the opportunity, through prayer with a community, to unload the pressures of the day and greet our loved ones with a clearer mind. 

The daily Minyanim in a Synagogue truly represent the heart of the community.  Why the heart?  Daily Minyanim (at least in the modern view) tend to be geared towards making sure there is a Minyan, a Quorum of ten adults available to help those saying Kaddish for a departed loved one, or a time when one goes back for the Yartzeit, the anniversary of the death of a loved one.  When one has experienced a loss, or remembering a departed one, their ‘heart’ is grieving, is feeling that emptiness.  Those who attend the Minyan (who are not in mourning but there to support the community) are the ‘heart’ in that they are there to support the community.  To not only pray together to  “… serve G-d…” but to also be part of the community by supporting those who have experienced loss.  Letting those in mourning know that they are not alone and do not have to be alone. 

Synagogues with daily Minyanim – vibrant, active Minyanim – have a strong heart.  Like our hearts, they support those in grief, they can be grieving, they are compassionate, they are empathetic, and they are sympathetic.  Like a heart they represent the physical pulse of the community.  There is a beat, a tempo, not only in the support of the community but to the prayers. 

Unfortunately there are Synagogues out there that have trouble on a daily basis supporting the Minyan.  They are not able to get their quorum, there Minyan of ten adults.  Many stop having daily Minyanim.  Their hearts whither and pass on.  This, to me, is one of the saddest things to hear.  What happens to those in the community who are grieving and want the support of, not only family and friends, but their community?  They end up either looking for another place within their area with an active daily Minyan, or even worse – they have to go through their grief alone. 

Another way that the daily Minyan acts as a ‘heart’ to the community is that the people who attend the daily Minyan are part of the community on a daily basis.  Like our own hearts, we sometimes take it for granted.  Our hearts beat, they have a pulse, and they keep up a healthy blood flow.  When we are healthy do we focus on our own hearts?  We take it for granted that it is there, it is working properly, and we don’t really think about it until there is a problem.  Many communities look at the daily Minyan in this way.  And unfortunately, even when there is a problem (like obtaining a proper quorum) people will go on the attitude that someone else will go. 

Like our own hearts – it is important for us to keep that heart healthy.  Keep the pulse going strong.  True – loss of a loved one is a part of life, part of the cycle.  The daily Minyanim are there to support those who experience loss.  However the daily Minyanim are also there for us to “… serve G-d with all of our heart…”, to pray together as a community, to start and invigorate our day with members of our communities in prayer, then to end, and ‘de-tox’ from the daily challenges in the late afternoon with members of our communities in prayer. 

Like anything we start new, it is a habit that can be joyfully created.  The daily Minyanim are not long services, and in the short amount of time it takes to join with our communities in prayer can be so gratifying.  Not only knowing that you are supporting those within the community in grief, that you are serving G-d, but also knowing that you are starting your day by keeping the heart of the community strong and healthy. 

If your Synagogue has a daily Minyan, a heart, join the heart.  Even if you can-not, for whatever reason, commit on a daily basis, find one or two days a week that you can go in the morning and the late afternoon.  If enough people in the community can even do that – they can not only assure the heart of the community will stay strong, but they will build a beautiful habit of starting and ending the day with their community.