Establishing an Additional Synagogue

Q: In our community there is one synagogue in which all members of the community pray. Recently, one person began initiating the establishment of a synagogue in memory of his father. For this purpose, he intends to purchase a ground-floor apartment in an apartment building and convert it into a synagogue. He is approaching people in the community and outside it, to donate money for the construction of the synagogue, claiming that this is a great mitzvah. Opposing him are those who argue that this is an unnecessary initiative, since the synagogue accommodates all the worshippers, and therefore, there is no mitzvah in donating to establish this synagogue.

Additional question: Residents on the upper floors object to establishing a synagogue beneath their apartment, claiming that it is forbidden to live in an apartment above a synagogue.

Communal Unity in the Synagogue

When there is room in the synagogue for all the worshippers, and there is no significant principled reason to establish another synagogue, it is forbidden to divide the community (Magen Avraham 150:23). Consequently, one who donates toward establishing such a synagogue does not have a mitzvah, but a transgression, for unity is a supreme value in Judaism. As our Sages said (Devarim Rabbah 5:6), when Israel are united, even if they have committed severe sins, the Holy One, blessed be He, assists them in defeating their enemies; but when there is division among them, even if they possess many mitzvot, God does not assist them, and they fall before their enemies.

Even the very name Beit Knesset (synagogue), refers to gathering together in unity. Moreover, the greater the number of worshippers, the greater the sanctification of Heaven, as it says (Prov. 14:28): “In the multitude of people is the King’s glory."

The Netziv wrote: “Division where there is no necessity is a great transgression… The more numerous the gathering, the more the prayer is heard; ten praying together are not comparable to one hundred performing one mitzvah and glorifying the King of the universe… In Bereishit Rabbah (parashah 4) it is stated that ‘it was good’ was not said on the second day because of the division of the waters. Rabbi Taviumi said: ‘If division that is necessary for the existence of the world is not called good, how much more so division that leads to confusion.’ And here ‘division’ does not mean dispute, but separation between those who were attached, like the separation of the waters-even if they are not quarreling."

Rabbi Shlomo Drimer likewise wrote (Responsa Beit Shlomo, Orach Chaim 26) that one should not separate for greater comfort or honor: if the study hall accommodates everyone and their hearts are at peace with the members of the congregation, they are forbidden to separate merely for more spacious seating or imagined honor and other weak reasons, which are not worthy when weighed against the honor of God, “for in the multitude of people is the King’s glory."

Similarly, the Rishon Le’Tzion, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel wrote (Mishpetei Uziel 7:19) that there is no permission to establish temporary or permanent synagogues in private rooms where public synagogues already exist, for such places diminish the stature and splendor of the synagogue and constitute a withdrawal from the community.

The Educational Value for the Community and Children

Experience also shows that people connected to a large community receive more support and encouragement in times of joy and sorrow. A large community can organize more Torah classes and charitable activities, and its members can grow more in Torah and good deeds. Children who grow up in a large and strong community remember more positively the prayers in the synagogue and the fellowship of the worshippers, and when they grow up, they are more inclined to continue in the path of Torah and mitzvot. Therefore, even if some individuals feel more comfortable in a smaller minyan aligned with their preferences, or where they can serve more often as prayer leaders, it is preferable that they forgo this in order to preserve communal unity.

The Lesser Evil When There Are Contentious Individuals

At times, establishing another synagogue is the lesser evil-when the impulse for dispute prevails, rebuke is ineffective, and members of the community - sometimes even the rabbis - sink into quarrels, and sin through strife. In such a case, it is preferable that they sin less by separating, and establishing another synagogue (Mishnah Berurah 150:2).

When One Must Establish Another Synagogue

When the synagogue is too small to contain all the worshippers, and there is no satisfactory solution, one must build another synagogue. One who prevents its construction, thereby prevents many from fulfilling a mitzvah. Likewise, if there are people in a nearby neighborhood without a synagogue who do not attend due to distance, and establishing one closer would enable them to pray with a minyan, it is proper to do so.

Sometimes, unfortunately, there is another principled reason that justifies establishing a new minyan-for example if in the existing one, there is estrangement from the mitzvah of Yishuv Ha’Aretz (settling the Land of Israel) and from unity with all parts of the people, and consequently, there is a desire to establish a synagogue faithful to the full values of Torah and appoint a rabbi who educates accordingly. Since this is a principled matter - to educate toward the proper values of the Torah - it is necessary to establish the minyan for this purpose (and see Avnei Nezer, Orach Chaim 36, who permitted dividing for the sake of a ‘proper reason’).

Multiple Diverse Minyanim Under One Community

At times, the disagreements are not personal but stem from emphases in the style of prayer, and then it may be appropriate to establish several minyanim within the framework of the community: one for those who wish to lengthen the prayer in order to have more concentration, one for those who wish to shorten it so as not to burden the congregation, and one for those who wish to increase singing and incorporate the youth into the prayer. For, unlike the value of communal unity, which overrides many other values, the value of “In the multitude of people is the King’s glory" does not override other values, but rather, must be integrated with them in balance.

Therefore, even when it is correct to establish minyanim suited to the different tendencies within the community, one must labor for the unity of the community through Torah classes and joint prayers. For this purpose, it is very desirable that the community have a rabbi who will be a partner in shaping the various minyanim, and who will labor together with the entire congregation, for the unification of the community.

Minyanim According to Ethnic Traditions Under One Community

Similarly, at times the need to separate stems from differences in nusach (version of prayer), for example, when the existing minyan follows a particular nusach, and meanwhile, the minyan has grown and now includes many who follow another nusach; or initially, they were accustomed to combining two nusachim together, and as the number of worshippers increased, many of them prefer to pray the entire service according to their ancestral nusach. And this is a justified reason for establishing an additional minyan, provided that the first minyan is not nullified (Maharam Shik 3:168).

Even in such cases, it is proper to consult the local rabbi, so that on the one hand, each person may pray according to his ancestral nusach, and on the other hand, the community will remain united-for example, that the two synagogues be in the same complex, and that the Torah classes and celebrations of both, be shared by all (see Peninei Halakha: Prayer 6:6).

A Synagogue on the First Floor of an Apartment Building

From here, to the second question: when an upper story was built above a synagogue, the early authorities ruled that one should not designate there a place for sleeping, and all the more so, one should not install a restroom there (Maharam of Rothenburg; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 151:12). Likewise, our Sages forbade building a structure higher than a synagogue, and all the more so, one should not build an apartment above a synagogue (Ritva, Shabbat 11a).

However, when it comes to an apartment building, and only afterward was one of the apartments purchased for the purpose of a synagogue, according to halakha, the apartments above it do not become sanctified, and there is no restriction on the residents above the synagogue (Rema, Orach Chaim 112, according to Mahari Weil).

Nevertheless, many later authorities were concerned about a potential spiritual danger in this, and wrote that someone who wants to protect his life, should avoid living above the synagogue (Knesset HaGedolah, 16:4; Magen Avraham 18; Mishnah Berurah 42; and Mishpetei Uzziel, Part 3, Orach Chaim 19, prohibited). Indeed, according to their view, it is forbidden to convert an apartment on a lower floor into a synagogue, and thereby forbid the use of the apartment above it.

What Is Done After the Fact

However, after the fact, if they established a synagogue beneath a residential apartment, one may continue to live there, for Rambam (Responsa Pe’er HaDor 94) ruled leniently to live in an apartment built above a synagogue, and only above the place of the ark, did he write that one should not sleep, and should not place work tools there. And the Chida wrote, in practice, that one need not be concerned about segulah-type danger when living above a synagogue, because all the poskim who were stringent in this matter, did not see Rambam’s responsum, and had they seen it, they would have retracted (Birkei Yosef 151:10; Chaim Sha’al 1:56). Thus, it is proper to act in practice, because regarding all segulah-type concerns, one should be less concerned in our times (see Peninei Halakha: Faith and Its Mitzvot 26:11-12; 19:14).

A Case Where One Must Establish a Minyan in an Apartment

Sometimes, there is an elderly or disabled person who has difficulty leaving his home, and his relatives and acquaintances want to pray with him in a minyan, especially when it concerns a great Torah scholar whose students want to establish a minyan in his home. In such a case, the founders of the minyan must follow all usage rules established by law, and by the shared-use agreements. It appears that as long as the minyan is small and quiet, there is no disturbance to the neighbors.

When there is flexibility in interpreting the law, since this involves the needs of a mitzvah, it is proper to interpret it in favor of the synagogue, and not to prevent its use because of the minor noise caused by people passing in the stairwell, and by the prayers.

This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper and was translated from Hebrew.