"for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues"
while its not good to pray for the sake of your own repute, of course Jews ARE required halachically to pray together in a group on certain occasions. There are certain memorial prayers for the dead that can ONLY be said with a minyan ( a prayer quorom of ten Jews) and so its a mitzvah (commandment, good deed, meritorious act) to join in. On Shabbos its a mitzvah to pray with a minyan and to read from a torah. Places that have torah scrolls and hold regular minyans ARE synagogues. Praying in a dark room is hardly a desirable alternative. We are a community, and we pray as a community, not just as solitary individuals (though there are times when that is appropriate)
while its not good to pray for the sake of your own repute, of course Jews ARE required halachically to pray together in a group on certain occasions. There are certain memorial prayers for the dead that can ONLY be said with a minyan ( a prayer quorom of ten Jews) and so its a mitzvah (commandment, good deed, meritorious act) to join in. On Shabbos its a mitzvah to pray with a minyan and to read from a torah. Places that have torah scrolls and hold regular minyans ARE synagogues. Praying in a dark room is hardly a desirable alternative. We are a community, and we pray as a community, not just as solitary individuals (though there are times when that is appropriate)
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