Joining a Minyan for a Jew Who Does Not Observe Torah and Mitzvot
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Question
Can a Jew who does not observe Torah and mitzvot join a minyan for prayer or Kaddish?
Answer
A mumar le'achis, or one who publicly desecrates Shabbat in front of a great person, cannot join a minyan. However, if he does not desecrate out of spite and is embarrassed to desecrate Shabbat in front of a great person, he can join the minyan.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Siman 55, Seif 11: "A transgressor who violated a communal decree or committed a sin, if he was not excommunicated, is counted in a minyan of ten."
And in Mishnah Berurah, there, s"k 46: "The PM"G writes that only a sin committed out of desire, but out of spite, even in one matter, or if he is a mumar for idolatry or publicly desecrates Shabbat, his status is like that of a non-Jew and he is not counted."
Mishnah Berurah, Siman 385, s"k 6, writes regarding a public desecrator of Shabbat: "And if he is embarrassed to do this in front of a great person, even if he does this in front of several people, this is also considered private."
And this applies only to someone who grew up as a religious person and cast off the yoke of Torah. But those whose parents did not educate them in the ways of Torah and mitzvot, and certainly if they come to the synagogue to pray, the poskim have written that they can be counted in a minyan, as they are not considered a mumar but rather an anus, as long as they do not deny and fight against the religion of Moses and Israel.