This letter was sent to R. Chayim Meir Minkowitz. 1

B”H, 17 Elul, 5710

Greetings and Blessings,

In response to your letter of 7 Elul: Thank you for the details you wrote me concerning the temporary burial 2 and [the reburial of your father] in Eretz Yisrael.

You ask [concerning the following situation]: Both you and your brother desired to lead the congregation in prayer. 3 As a result, it sometimes happens that there are only seven people actually praying in each one’s minyan. 4 You ask whether it is preferable that only one lead the service so that there will be a complete minyan with ten praying.

I did not hear an explicit directive regarding this, 5 but in my opinion, it is preferable that each of you lead the services individually. Most of the time, there will certainly be ten people praying in each minyan. If, at times, you will have to content yourselves with six, you can rely on the Shulchan Aruch which states that they are considered “as a congregation in the full sense of the term” (the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, 69:5). He has broad shoulders. 6

As per your request, I will remember you and your household at the gravesite of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, הכ"מ.

Concluding with blessings for a kesivah vachasimah tovah and that you establish yourself in an appropriate manner in the near future both materially and spiritually; awaiting good tidings,

Menachem Schneerson