07 Jan VAYECHI: TEFILLAH B’TZIBBUR

Moments before
Yaakov Avinu’s
petirah, he gathered
his children and said
(Bereishis 49:1)
“Assemble yourself…”
The Zohar (Bereishis
p.234.) says that
Yaakov instructed his
children to assemble
and daven with minyan.
There are many
benefits earned from
davening with a
minyan. One benefit is
that it is mesugal for parnassah. It states in
parashas Mikeitz (42:3) “Yosef’s brothers
– ten of them – went down to buy grain
from Mitzrayim.”
Rashi asks why the Torah tells us that
there were ten brothers. We can figure out,
on our own, that ten brothers went down to
Mitzrayim!
The Divrei Yisrael of Modzitz zy’a
answers: The purpose of this trip was to
bring back food and parnassah for their
families, and they knew that the success of
their mission was dependent on their
tefillos with a minyan because davening

with a minyan is mesugal for parnassah.
It states (Shemos 23:25) “You shall
worship Hashem your G-d and He will
bless your bread and your water, and I shall
remove illness from your midst.” The
Rebbe of Radishitz zt’l teaches that “You
shall worship” means tefillah with a
minyan. (That’s why it is written in plural
tense.) The pasuk says that davening with
minyan results in parnassah and health.
The Meor VeShemesh writes, “The
primary way to serve Hashem is together
with the congregation. This applies to all
avodas Hashem aspects: Torah, tefillah, etc
… In particular, one must be cautious to
daven with a minyan. If he does so, he is
guaranteed abundant parnassah, and there
will be brachah in everything he does.”
The Yismach Yisrael wrote the following
letter to his chassidim, “I also request from
the businessmen that they should always
daven in the beis chassidim (beis medrash)
and they should never miss. Even if they
need to wait until ten people gather, they
should wait, and in the meantime, they
should study something. I guarantee that
this will not cause them any loss, chalilah.
On the contrary, it will bring a brachah into
their parnassah. It will also train their

children to go to the beis medresh twice a
day. And when one goes into a perfume
store, he becomes perfumed.”
The final words of this letter tell another
important reason to daven with a minyan.
It is a mitzvah to be among good Yidden.
When one enters a perfume store, he
comes out smelling better, and when one
goes to a beis medresh, he becomes
stronger and better than before.
It states in Shemos (5:6) Lo Saasifun
Lases Teven “You shall no longer give
straw…”Why is there an extra alef in the
word Saasifun? Rebbe Dovid of Lelov zt’l
explained that Pharaoh decreed, Lo
Sasifun, that Yidden may no longer gather.
Every Shabbos, in Mitzrayim, Yidden
would gather and discuss emunah. Pharaoh
understood how much they gain when they
come together, so he decreed Lo Saasifun
that they may not gather anymore.
(Rebbe Dovid Lelover zt’l said that he is
sure that when Moshiach arrives, Moshe
Rabbeinu will greet him and thank him for
explaining the correct reason he added the
alef in this word.)
Indeed, this is one of the benefits of
davening with a minyan. It is where we

meet with good Yidden and strengthen our
emunah.
Another benefit of a minyan is that
Hashem is there wherever there is a
minyan. The Baal HaTanya (letter 23)
writes, “I was taught by my rebbes [the
Baal Shem Tov zt’l and the Magid of
Mezritzh zt’l] that if a malach were to stand
in the presence of a gathering of ten Yidden,
even if there were no words of Torah
spoken between them, a boundless and
infinite fear would befall that malach on
account of the Shechinah that resides over
them, and he would become utterly
nullified.”