. @RabbiOrlofsky tells the story of when he went to a speaking engagement in a small town & inquired about the time for the minyan. His host informed him that it was over a hour away & he just thought they would daven by themselves. The Rabbi replied "but I& #39;m a chiyuv" (obligated)

The host & the Rabbi jumped into the car & made it to the shul in time for davening. At the end of the service, the host inquired "why didn& #39;t you say Kaddish?" The Rabbi responded, "I& #39;m a chiyuv, I never said that I was an avel (a mourner)."

In fact, all Jews are obligated to daven with a minyan. While that was impossible (in order to protect life), we prayed in our homes for over 2 months. Now that it can safely & legally be done in many places again, we should start returning to our shuls, under the CDC guidelines

Communal prayer is an "essential service" & unlike Home Depot & your corner liquor store, it even has it& #39;s own Constitutional Amendment. As we reopen our country & restart the economy, let& #39;s remember the important place that our Houses of Worship have in the lives of so many.