What should a person do when he is "stuck" in a shul - being the tenth man there, and there is no baal korei, and the person who is attempting to read the Torah is mispronouncing every other word and has to be corrected and repeat the word, and because of this the davening is getting schlepped out significantly longer than is normal or expected, while one's wife or Shabbos host is waiting and worried? May he break the minyan or is he simply obligated to suffer through it? At what point in time does it become permissible to break the minyan over the protests of the people there who are completely insensitive regarding the late hour?
Michael
Brooklyn, US
Dear Michael,
From your question it is clear that you are aware that to "break the Minyan" is not taken lightly in Halachah. If a man arbitrarily leaves the Tzibur at a time when a Minyan is required, Chazal apply to him the verse, "v'Ozvei Hash-m Yichlu" (Yeshayah 1:28; Berachos 8a). That being said, it is also clear that there must be limitations to how long one is obligated to maintain the Minyan. It is reasonable to assume that if one were sick -- even Choleh she'Ein Bo Sakanah -- one would be allowed to leave, just as a sick person is exempt from performance of other Mitzvos. It is also reasonable to assume that for a Davar ha'Avud -- a significant financial loss -- one would be allowed to leave, as it is not likely that it is more serious an issue than Melachah on Chol ha'Mo'ed (which is permitted for Davar ha'Avud).
The question is whether there exist any guidelines about how much extra time one needs to spend maintaining a Minyan? I did not find such a guideline in the Poskim, but one suggestion I heard that might have merit was that the same rules apply to breaking a Minyan as to joining one. The Gemara (Berachos 15a, Pesachim 46a) tells us that if one is traveling and comes to a town in the evening to spend the night, if there is no Minyan in the town he is obligated to walk back at least one Mil (approximately one kilometer) or to walk forward at least four Mil to a town that will have a Minyan. In other words, in order to join a Minyan one must expend at least the time and effort involved in walking a Mil, which is measured as an 18-minute walk. Perhaps we may extrapolate to your case and say that one is only obligated to spend this amount of time (or be Matri'ach his wife or guests who are waiting for him), and not more, maintaining the Minyan over and above the normally accepted amount of time for a Minyan.
Kol Tuv,
Yonasan Sigler
This is not a Psak Halachah