As we begin the process of resuming davening with a minyan, I think this is the time to look back on the experience of davening b’yechidus and ask if there is anything to be learned. Almost all the people I spoke with regarding this stated that when davening privately in their homes, since they were not pressured to keep up with the pace set by the chazan, they were able to daven with more kavana, better articulate the words in the siddur (i.e., not skim or mumble), and to focus on their meaning. Overall, they found their davening to be more meaningful.

Perhaps a survey of the community at this time would reveal whether that was experienced by a significant number of people. In my opinion, if many people found their davening without a minyan to be more meaningful, that’s a problem. But would the rabbis of our community consider that to be a problem? If they would they could choose to address it. Or would it be back to davening as usual?