A minyan (Hebrew: מִנְיָן lit. to count, number; pl. minyanim) in Judaism refers to the quorum required for certain religious obligations, which is ten Jewish adults (male adults in Orthodox Judaism).
The most common activity requiring a minyan is public prayer. Accordingly, the term minyan in contemporary Judaism has taken on the secondary meaning of referring to a prayer service.
The source for the requirement of minyan is recorded in the Talmud. The word minyan itself comes from the Hebrew root maneh מנה meaning to count or to number. The word is related to the Aramaic word mene, numbered, appearing in the writing on the wall in Daniel 5:25.
Babylonian Talmud
The Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 23b) derives the requirement of a minyan of ten for Kiddush Hashem[1] and Devarim she-Bikdusha, "matters of sanctity", by combining three scriptural verses using the rule of gezerah shavah:
The word "midst" in the verse:
"And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel" (Leviticus 22:32)also appears in the verse:
"Separate yourselves from the midst of the congregation" (Numbers 16:21)The term "congregation" is also used in another verse that describes the ten spies who brought back a negative report of the Land of Israel:
"How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me?" (Numbers 14:27)From this combination, the Talmud concludes that "sanctification" should occur in the "midst" of a "congregation" of ten.
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 4:4) offers two sources for the requirement, also using a gezerah shavah:
The word "congregation" in the verse:
"Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy" (Leviticus 19:2)is also used in another verse:
"How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me?" (Numbers 14:27)Since the term "congregation" in the later verse refers to the ten spies, so too in the former verse: "You shall be holy" refers to a "congregation" of ten.
The second source is based on the term "children of Israel" which appears in the following two verses:
"And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel" (Leviticus 22:32) " And the children of Israel came to buy among those that came" (Genesis 42:5)Just as the "children of Israel" in the later verse refers to the ten sons of Jacob who descended to Egypt to obtain food during the famine, so too the former verse refers to sanctification among the “children of Israel” in the presence of ten.
The following instances which require a minyan are listed in the Mishnah in Megillah (iv. 3):
Other instances which require the presence of a minyan include:
While the required quorum for most activities requiring a quorum is usually ten, it is not always so. For example, the Passover sacrifice or Korban Pesach (from the days of the Temple in Jerusalem) must be offered before a quorum of 30. (It must be performed in front of kahal adat yisrael, the assembly of the congregation of Israel. Ten are needed for the assembly, ten for the congregation, and ten for Israel.) According to some Talmudic authorities, women counted in the minyan for offering the Korban Pesach (e.g. Rav, Rav Kahana, Pesachim 79b).
It was the firm belief of the sages that wherever ten Israelites are assembled, either for worship or for the study of the Law, the Divine Presence dwells among them. In rabbinical literature, those who meet for study or prayer in smaller groups, even one who meditates or prays alone, are to be praised. However, the stress is put upon the merits and sacredness of the minyan of ten. The codifiers, such as Maimonides[4], his annotators, and the author of the Shulkhan Arukh, have unitedly given strength to this sentiment, and have thus, for more than a thousand years, made the daily attendance at public worship, morning and evening, to be conducted in a quorum of ten.
There is a disagreement between the medieval commentators on whether prayer with a minyan is preferable or obligatory. Rashi is of the view that an individual is obligated to pray with a minyan, while Nahmanides holds that only if ten adult males are present are they obliged to recite their prayer together, but an individual is not required to actively seek out a minyan.[5]
Rashi and the Tosafot on Talmud Bavli Pesachim 46a are both of the opinion that one is required to travel the distance of 4 mil to pray with a minyan. The Mishnah Berurah writes that one who is sitting at home must travel up to one mil.[6]
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 basis for inclusion of men only is deduced from the verse “I will be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel”: Because the words “children of Israel” are in the masculine form, Bnei Yisrael, (lit. sons of Israel) it is understood to exclude the “daughters of Israel”. 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.
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[7] 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.[8] It should be noted, however, that in extraneous circumstances there are those who are lenient and permit a minor over six years old holding a chumash or Sefer Torah to complete a minyan. However this practice is not to be encouraged.[9]
Although the issue of whether women are permitted to make up a minyan have been noted in early works, the matter has only come to the fore in past few decades, a reaction to an enhanced awareness of the role of women in modern society and to the clamor for their inclusion in all areas of religious life.[10]
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.
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 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.[11]