in
Israel. There is much discussion in
rabbinic literature on the matter of who is eligible to be counted in a
minyan. Some discussions revolve around whether or not a
minyan should consist of individuals who are obligated in performance of that particular precept. Some authorities deduce who may constitute a
minyan by drawing on the verses which are brought as the basis for minyan and their implication. For example, the verse,
"How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me?" is referring to the ten spies, a congregation comprising Jewish adult males. It is understood from this that a minyan must likewise comprise ten Jewish adult males. Other classical sources base their rulings on discussions brought in the Talmud. Contemporary rabbinical authorities deal with a plethora of questions relating to qualification for
minyan.
Minors Before a boy
turns thirteen, he is considered a
minor in Jewish law and is not obligated in the performance of religious precepts. However, if a child is over six years of age and has adequate comprehension of the significance of the precepts, his status may change. His inclusion in
minyan is thus subject of Talmudic dispute. Based on the Talmudic
passage in Berachot,
Rabbeinu Tam states that a minor can act as the tenth person and according to the
Baal Ha-Maor, up to four minors would be permitted.
Rosh explains that those who permit the inclusion of a minor maintain that it is the
Divine Presence which actually constitutes the tenth member, thereby validating the
minyan — this may explain why some of these authorities require that the minor represent this fact by holding a
chumash. However the majority of
poskim follow the conclusion of the
Ri who holds that a minor can never be counted in a
minyan under any circumstances. This is the stance taken by the
Shulchan Aruch, who, although acknowledging some authorities do permit the inclusion of an astute six-year-old, writes that consensus rejects this view and only males over the age of thirteen may constitute a
minyan. However, in extraordinary circumstances some are lenient and permit a minor over six years old holding a chumash or
Sefer Torah to complete a
minyan. Rabbi
Moshe Feinstein says that we can rely on this because most of the laws of Minyan are Rabbinical in nature (except for the laws of
Kiddush Hashem), so one can conclude that when dealing with a Biblical law of Minyan (such as Sanctifying God's name in public) one would not be able to count a child.
Women Although the issue of whether women are permitted to make up a
minyan has been noted in early works, the matter has only come to the fore in the past few decades, a reaction to an enhanced role of women in modern society and to the demand for their inclusion in all areas of religious life. The Talmud itself does not directly address the question of whether women may count as part of a minyan for devarim shebkdusha. Since the Talmud uses the same
gezerah shavah for Kiddush Hashem as it uses for
devarim shebkdusha, one may expect the laws for those two cases to be the same. Many authorities are of the opinion that women are included in the
minyan for Kiddush Hashem and Hillul Hashem. However, traditional codifiers generally do not include women in the
minyan for
devarim shebkdusha. The Talmud (
Arakhin 3a) relates that women are required to recite
zimmun of three participants, and Berakhot 45 says that women may recite the zimmun. However, the majority of scholars are of the opinion that ten women may not recite the additional form of
zimun be-Shem, which is obligatory when ten men are present. The few authorities who do permit ten women to use the
zimmun be-Shem formulation explain that the necessity for ten in this case is unique and cannot be compared to other instances requiring
minyan. Only
Rabbeinu Simcha among these authorities mentions the possibility of one woman's joining with nine men to form a
minyan for prayer. This isolated opinion is rejected by the codifiers. There are a number of cases, including reading of the
megillah, where a limited number of authorities count women towards the minyan. However, in these cases the reason why women are counted is not because they constitute a "congregation," but rather because a public audience is required. A possible reason why it is men who were obligated to form a congregation in order to convene the Divine Presence is that women were individually considered sufficiently holy and did not require the combination of a group and special prayers to achieve added holiness deficient in men. Due to the righteousness of the women in the wilderness, they did not suffer the same deadly fate as their male counterparts, and despite the spies’ negative report about the holy land, wished to enter it. Others point to the sociological reality that women were traditionally expected to care for the house and children. The Jewish tradition did not require women to leave their social role to engage in public prayer.
Reform In 1845, rabbis attending the Frankfort Synod of the emerging
Reform Judaism declared that women count in a minyan, a formalization of a customary Reform practice dating back to 1811.
Conservative In 1973, the
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of
Conservative Judaism voted to count men and women equally as members of a minyan. In 2002, the Committee adapted a
responsum by Rabbi David Fine which provides an official religious-law foundation for women counting in a
minyan and explains the current Conservative approach to the role of women in prayer. This responsum holds that, although Jewish women do not traditionally have the same obligations as men, Conservative women have, as a collective whole, voluntarily undertaken them. Because of this collective undertaking, the Fine responsum holds that Conservative women are eligible to serve as agents and decision-makers for others. The responsum also holds that traditionally-minded communities and individual women can opt out without being regarded by the Conservative movement as sinning. By adopting this responsum, the CJLS found itself in a position to provide a considered Jewish-law justification for its egalitarian practices, without having to rely on potentially unconvincing arguments, undermine the religious importance of community and clergy, ask individual women intrusive questions, repudiate the
halakhic tradition, or label women following traditional practices as sinners.
Transgressors The question of whether a sinner can be counted for a
minyan has become much more pertinent in recent generations, where a general malaise in religious observance among the majority of Jews has occurred. The Shulchan Aruch states that though a person may be a notorious and habitual sinner and has even committed a
capital offense unless a person has been placed under a religious ban due to his sinful behavior, he is counted among the ten. The source provided for this sentiment is from the incident with
Achan who, despite having been put to death for his transgression, was still referred to as a Jew. However, the
Pri Megadim explains that this is only true if he sins for self-satisfaction, but if a person sins to spite God or has openly severed their connection with the Jewish people by professing a hostile creed or by publicly desecrating the Shabbat, such a person is prohibited from constituting a minyan. Nevertheless, many contemporary authorities have been driven to adopt a lenient view in the face of widespread public non-observance of the Shabbat, on the presumption that it does not indicate a deliberate denial of faith, but is rather a result of ignorance and succumbing to the pressure of social and economic conditions.
Proselytes Even though
Tosafot deduce from the Talmud in
Sukkah 38b that wherever the verse states “children of Israel” it comes to exclude a proselyte unless there is specific clause for inclusion, here with regard to
minyan the sources state that there is no reasoning to exclude a full-fledged proselyte. Since such a person is permitted to act as a prayer leader, obviously they can count towards a
minyan.
Those who are unable to respond As long as a person is of sufficient intelligence, he can be included in the
minyan, even if he is unable to respond to the prayers which make the presence of ten a necessity. According to some sources, this is because as long as ten are gathered the
Divine Presence descends and it is feasible to pronounce a ''Dvar she'bekedusha
. This includes someone who is in the middle of his prayers but is precluded from responding to the hazzan’s incantations and someone who is mute but can hear the prayers — someone who is deaf but has the ability and knows when to respond can also be included. There is however a dispute regarding someone who is asleep or intoxicated. Such a person has sufficient intelligence, but at present can neither hear or respond. Ideally he should be woken to the extent that he is dozing, but in extraneous circumstances where it impossible to arouse him, it is permitted to include the maximum of one sleeping person in the minyan
. In the case of a drunkard, the accepted view is that even if he has not reached the “drunkenness of Lot”, he still cannot be included. A minimum of six of those gathered in the minyan have a duty to listen attentively and respond appropriately to the additional prayers and that at least nine are required to respond for the repetition of the Amidah''. ==Arrangement==