Worship in the Cloud 69

equally clear that the traditional halakhah does not consider the Internet a sufficient way to create that community, or that minyan. But, once again, knowing the halakhah is not enough for us; we have to understand the reasons behind the halakhah.

Why do we need a minyan to pray? What is it about 10 people coming together that is so important? Until we know that, we cannot really decide whether the Internet is a reasonable way to accomplish it.

In his responsum, Reisner explores the possibility that coming together was not only a required part of communal prayer, it may have been the entire point. It is possible that our sages required a minyan explicitly so that the community would come together, and public communal structures could develop. Prayer is a pretext for gathering, and so anything which interferes with that gathering could be presumed to be opposed.

Abraham Millgram also explores the reason for the requirement of minyan. While acknowledging the value of private prayer, Milgram believes that,“the rabbis felt that the Jew who worships privately treads a spiritually lonely road; coming together with other people has strong psychological effects. The weak and the wavering among us can draw strength and support from those who are stronger within the group.“Spiritual strength” is a communal quality, not an individual one. Coming together binds us more closely with the community of Israel .

Similarly, Isaac Klein discusses the compelling force of the public. The lessons which prayer is trying to teach us are simply not effectively conveyed when we donot feel the presence of others: