One should make a great effort to Daven with a Minyan because Hashem does not reject the Tefilah of a congregation, and the Tefilah will be more accepted by Hashem (Orach Chaim 90:8, Mishnah Brurah 52:3, 90:28).
Rebbe Yochanan teaches us in Brachos (6b) that when Hashem comes to a Shul and does not find ten men gathered there for a Minyan, Hashem immediately becomes angry. The Meiri explains that if a Minyan is not present when the time for Davening arrives, it is clear that the people are lacking in their devotion to serving Hashem, and this provokes Hashem’s anger.
Rav A. Leib Scheinbaum relates the following story. In a resort hotel in Eretz Yisroel outside Yerushalayim, the Mashgiach, the Kosher supervisor, would see to it that there was a daily Minyan for Minchah. It happened that one day he had a very difficult time completing the Minyan, and he decided to go outside to search for a tenth man.
He soon met a Jew who neither had a clue about what a Minyan was, nor about what the Mashgiach wanted from him. After the Mashgiach explained the significance of Minyan and the incredible reward in store for those who participate in a Minyan, the stranger agreed to join them as the tenth person. He went with the Mashgiach into the building and began walking up the stairs to the dining hall, where the Minyan took place.
Suddenly, someone told the Mashgiach that the son of one of the regular people at the Minyan had arrived, and they now had a Minyan. The Mashgiach turned to the Jew who had only walked up the steps, and told him that their Minyan problem had just been solved. He thanked him for his good intentions and wished him a good day.
Ten years went by. One night, when the Mashgiach was sleeping, he had a dream. In the dream, the man whom he had called in to be the tenth man appeared before him, and his face was shining brilliantly. The man related to him that he had passed away from this world during the previous month.
He said, “I have come to thank you for attempting to include me in your Minyan. You have no idea of the incredible spiritual reward I have received because of the few steps I walked up in order to complete the Minyan.”
He added, “I have one favor to ask of you. I have one son who lives in Yerushalayim. He is non-observant. In fact, he is very estranged from a life of Torah and Mitzvos. Please go to him and ask him to recite Kaddish for me. It will mean so much.” The Mashgiach, of course, met with the son of this man, and was successful in convincing him to say Kaddish for his father.
Rav Scheinbaum commented, “This man got great reward, and it was all a result of him going a few steps out of his way. Can we even begin to imagine the reward for actually completing a Mitzvah? The S’char must be astounding!”
Reprinted from the Torah U’Tefilah – Special Edition of Not Talking in Shul, Vol. 2.
