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Written by: Allan Nadler

The mandatory, thrice-daily Jewish devotional services—Shacharit (morning), Mincha (afternoon), and Maariv (evening)—may be recited privately by any individual in any space uncontaminated by either filth or the presence of idolatrous icons. However, the ideal setting for all religious worship, including the daily prayers, is the synagogue in the presence of a minyan, or minimum quorum, defined by traditional rabbinical Judaism as consisting of ten adult men (adults being those who have undergone the rite of entry into adulthood, known as the Bar Mitzvah, at the age of thirteen). The Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist movements today have all embraced gender egalitarianism in devotional life, and thus count women as part of the minyan.

While the three essential elements of the traditional liturgy for all daily, Sabbath, and festival services—namely the recitation of Psalms, the Shema Yisrael (Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One), and the eighteen benedictions of the Amidah, or silent-standing devotion—are essentially the same whether recited privately or in the presence of a minyan, there are certain rituals and prayers that can only be recited with this required quorum. These include the public reading of the weekly Torah portion—a central feature of Shabbat morning services—and the Kaddish, or mourners' prayer. Therefore, prayer with a minyan, known as tfilah be-tsibur, or communal devotion, is considered preferable, and for mourners it is mandatory.