Will the Aliyah I received bring me bad nachas?
Question
I was called for an Aliyah with the bare minimum of a Minyan. Right as the blessing before the portion was finished the Chohein left and broke the Minyan. The Torah reader and leadership at the bimah was unaware of of the broken minyan and continued to recite the portion. Will thus Aliyah curse me?
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your question!
As you note, one requires a minyan, ten men, to recite matters defined as “devarim shebekedusha” – sacred prayers. This includes the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei, the recitation of Kaddish, and the reading of the Torah, among other prayers.
Indeed, it does happen occasionally that the service begins with ten men but one or more are forced to leave during the service.
Here are some of the possible scenarios that arise and how to deal with them:
If one had a minyan of 10 men and one or more people leave in the middle of the service, the service may continue as long as there are still 6 men remaining.
The allowance to continue with less than a minyan only applies to continuing the current prayer. It does not include beginning the next prayer or section of the service. Therefore, if there were 10 men when one began reciting kaddish, the kaddish may continue as long as 6 men remain. So too, if the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei had begun with a minyan and the minyan is then lost, the repetition may continue as long as 6 men remain (this includes the recitation of kaddish, the full kaddish that is recited after the repetition, and even the half kaddish following tachanun).
That being said, although the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei can continue, the Kohanim may not recite the Birkat Kohanim and that is considered to be a new topic. So too, the Torah reading is considered to be a new topic and therefore the Torah reading could not be held.
So, returning to your question, if the Torah reading did not yet begin, it may not begin. If it had begun, it may have continued.
Even if the Torah reading should not have been held, you are not “cursed” in any way. It was an innocent mistake and now you know for next time!
Source
OC 55:2,3; Mishna Berura 55:10,15,19