על היחיד ועל הציבור כולו

What is the meaning of that which is written: “But as for me, let my prayer be unto You, Lord, in a time of favor; O God, in the abundance of Your mercy, answer me with the truth of Your salvation” (Psalms 69:14)? It appears that the individual is praying that his prayers will coincide with a special time of Divine favor. When is a time of favor? It is at the time when the congregation is praying. It is beneficial to pray together with the congregation, for God does not fail to respond to the entreaties of the congregation.

Congregational prayer is always heard [by the Almighty]. Even if there are sinners among them, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not reject the prayer of a multitude. Hence, a person should associate himself with the congregation, and never recite his prayers in private when he is able to pray with the congregation. One should always attend Synagogue, morning and evening; for only if recited in a synagogue, are one's prayers heard at all times. Whoever has a synagogue in his town and does not worship there is called a bad neighbour.

Nevertheless, the Sages emphasized the collective component in their enactment, thereby instituting the fundamentals of faith within life. From this standpoint, prayer is a continuation of the Temple service, and just as the korbanot expressed the connection that the Jewish people and the entire world have with God, so too the prayers give public expression to this connection in every Jewish community. Even in the Temple Mount precincts, there was a synagogue for prayer in the time of the Second Temple. Although this emphasis is likely to result in the sidelining of personal feeling, the general impact of fixed public prayer on the entire world as well as each individual is tremendous. Therefore, the Sages preferred to set a defined framework for prayer (see 1:8 above).

Sometimes there is some tension between the personal and collective aspects of prayer. From the individual perspective, prayer should theoretically be poured out from the heart with no limitations, without any fixed formulas or set times, so that it can spontaneously and emotionally express one’s yearning and longing to be close to God. That is how people prayed during First Temple era. However, the Men of the Great Assembly, in their enactments, emphasized the collective element, for they understood that without a fixed prayer rite, most people would become stuck in their routines and would not recite even a personal prayer. Moreover, personal feelings are often flawed and deficient. However, when one prays with a community, his prayers are complemented and perfected by virtue of the collective. Therefore they instituted the recital of prayers at set times, corresponding to the bringing of the Tamid offering in the Temple. They established a fixed formula for prayer, including in it all the values important to the people of Israel as a whole. They composed the prayers in the plural and instituted communal prayer – in a synagogue with a minyan – for the essence of Israel’s greatness is that they can express sanctity publicly, thus revealing God’s name in the world and bringing it closer to perfection.

It is good to give tzedakah before praying (Shulchan Aruch 92:10), for by doing so one approaches prayer pleased and uplifted from the mitzvah he just performed. Furthermore, when we come to pray and request kindness and compassion from Hashem, it is proper that first we ourselves show mercy on the poor. The Ari HaKadosh says that before prayer it is good to reflect upon the mitzvah, “V’ahavta l’re’acha kamocha” (“Love your fellow Jew like yourself,”) for this is a great Torah principle. The prayers are written in the plural because we are praying for the nation as a whole.

AND MOSES ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. The expression all the congregation of the children of Israel includes the men and women, for all donated to the work of the Tabernacle. Thus Moses, after having commanded Aaron, and the rulers and all the children of Israel — the men — all that the Eternal had spoken with him in Mount Sinai, following the breaking of the Tablets, and after he had put the veil on his face [as all this is narrated in the preceding section], again commanded that the people be assembled, whereupon the whole congregation gathered to him — men, women, and children.
It is possible that this occurred on the day following his descent from the mountain, and he told all of them the subject of the Tabernacle which he had been previously commanded, before the breaking of the Tablets. For since the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled with them and gave Moses the second Tablets, and also made a new covenant that G-d would go in their midst, He thereby returned to His previous relationship with them, and to the love of their “wedding,” and it was obvious that His Presence would be in their midst just as He had commanded him at first, even as He said, And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell amongst them. Therefore Moses now commanded them all that he had been told at first.