When a virtual minyan fulfills one’s obligation TB Eruvin 92

An interesting rule is learn from the Mishnah on today’s daf TB Eruvin 93. To understand the rule one must first learn the Mishnah from where it is derived.

“If a large roof was adjacent to a small roof, and the boundary between them was no wider than ten cubits, use of the large one is permitted, i.e., one may bring objects up to the roof from the house below and carry them on the roof, and use of the small one is prohibited. A similar halakha applies to a large courtyard that was breached into a small one, in a manner that one entire side of the small courtyard was breached, but the breach was less than ten cubits; it is permitted for the residents of the large courtyard to carry, but it is prohibited for the residents of the small one to do so. The rationale for this difference is because in that case, the legal status of the breach is like that of the entrance of the large courtyard. As the breach in the wall of the larger courtyard is surrounded on both sides by the remaining portions of that wall, and the breach is no greater than ten cubits wide, its legal status is like that of an entrance in the wall of the courtyard, and therefore it is permitted to carry in the large courtyard. With regard to the small courtyard, however, since one entire side of the small courtyard was breached, there remains no partition whatsoever on that side and carrying in that courtyard is therefore prohibited.” (Sefaria.org translation)

First the rule and then the application. “Rabba, Rabbi Zeira, and Rabba bar Rav Ḥanan were sitting, and Abaye was sitting beside them, and they sat and said: Learn from the mishna that the rights of the residents of the large courtyard extend into the small one, but the rights of the residents of the small courtyard do not extend into the large one.” (Sefaria.org translation) The Gemara provides with five different applications, kelayim (כִּלְאַיִם), divorce (גטין), two concerning prayer, and the last is reciting the Shema.

One of the two examples concerning prayer has practical implication for synagogues during the coronavirus epidemic. “The same principle applies to a prayer quorum: If there were nine men in the large courtyard and one man in the small one, they join together to form the necessary quorum of ten, as the small courtyard is subsumed within the large one, and the individual is considered to be in the large courtyard. However, if there were nine men in the small courtyard and one in the large one, they do not join together.” (Sefaria.org translation) Obviously, the same would hold true if the minyan was egalitarian where both men and women were counted as part of the quorum.

Tosefot ד"ה תִּשְׁעָה בַּגְּדוֹלָה וְיָחִיד בַּקְּטַנָּה points out that the same would be true if there were five people in the larger courtyard and five people in the smaller courtyard. They could not be joined together as part of one minyan. However, if there were 10 people in one courtyard and more people in the other, these people could fulfill their obligation (יוצאי ידי חובתן) even though they are not part of the quorum based on the Gemara in TB Pesakhim 85b. “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Even a barrier of iron does not separate between the Jewish people and their Father in Heaven. Barriers are irrelevant with regard to prayer.” (Sefaria.org translation)

As long as there is a minyan inside the building, people who gather outside and can hear the prayers being recited can still fulfill the obligation in an Orthodox synagogue or a very traditional Conservative synagogue. Some Conservative synagogues will recite the prayers that need a minyan with a quorum inside the building and the rest of the congregation who are participating virtually can also fulfill their obligation as well. Finally, some Conservative synagogues consider a virtual minyan to be a kosher minyan to recite all prayers based on CJLS Guidance for Remote Minyanim in a time of COVID-19 written by Rabbi Joshua Heller.

“…a number of the members of the CJLS believe that in the current dire circumstances a more lenient position on constituting a minyan remotely may be acceptable, especially since there has been significant advances in technology. The classic sources (Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayyim 55:13, and others cited by Rabbi Reisner) require that a minyan be located in one physical space. However, Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayyim 55:14 does open the possibility that there may be an exception by joining in to constitute a minyan if one can see the faces of the other participants: “One who is standing behind the synagogue, with a window between that person and the congregation, even if it is several stories up and less than four cubits wide, and who shows his face to them, may combine with them to form a minyan of ten.” The possibility of a minyan being constituted by people who are not physically near each other is further expanded by Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein in Hashukei Hemed on Berakhot 21b (p. 135), where he permits constituting a minyan for kaddish yatom (Mourner’s Kaddish) where people are scattered in a field but can see each other. Recently Rabbi Haim Ovadia called attention to this source, arguing in favor of constituting a minyan by means of real-time video and audio connection between ten Jews. Therefore, in this crisis situation, a number of us are of the opinion that a ruling relying on these precedents should be issued:

In this crisis situation in an area in which civil and/or medical authorities decree that it is unsafe for people to gather in person and recommend or order the closure of houses of worship, it is permitted to constitute a minyan whose constitutive participants (ten adult Jews) are not located in one physical place.

Some of us hold that in an emergency situation such as the one we are now experiencing, people participating in a minyan that is only online may recite devarim shebikdushah, prayers that require a minyan, with their community. The participants counted for the minyan must be able to see and hear each other through virtual means and be able to respond “amen” and other liturgical replies to the prayer leader. Because reading from a Torah scroll is permitted for private study, the Torah reading may be read from a scroll without aliyot. Alternatively, the Torah may be read from a printed text, such as a Humash or Hebrew Bible, without aliyot. The berakhah la'asok b'divrei Torah may be recited before the Torah reading.”