Q. If one has the choice to daven B’rov Am (large group of attendants) in a yeshiva or to help out a struggling minyan (where it is questionable if there are even ten davening), which is better?
A. On question 3319 regarding one living in a section of a town that has only a few minyanim. and happily davening in a shul that has a traditional Yeshivishe minyan, where he is also the Baal Tokea there during Elul for years. Then a new minyan of Baalei Teshuva began and they were urgently looking for someone to blow the shofar for them on Rosh Hashana. If they are unable to find anyone, does he have to abandon my great minyan and be their Baal Tokea. We wrote:
“Chashukei Chemed (Suka 41b) mentions a case of an American tourist who visited a town in the Soviet Union and was asked by the over a minyan of people there to leave with them his Tefillin. since the ones they had were all pasul and couldn’t be replaced. In principle the tourist agreed to be mezake all those people, but he had a problem of not being able to put Tefillin one day during his travel back.
Horav Yitzchok Zilberstein Shlit’a provides different opinions is one has to loose even one mitzva for benefiting others with many.
Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit”’a opinion is that in that particular case it is commendable he attends that minyan of Baalei Teshuva, if he is unable to find someone else to blow the Shofar there.”
However, in this particular case if there is no acceptable minyan available, he does not have to join them.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller and Horav Aharon Miller Shlit’a