Kaddish before slichot
Question
I say slichos in an Ashkenazi synagogue in a minyan (quorum) with exactly ten participants. Very often, when we start the slichos, the tenth participant hasn’t arrived yet. Because of this, we can’t say kaddish after ashrei (the psalm that is traditionally said before slichos). When the tenth participant arrives in the middle of slichos, should we say kaddish? Thank you very much
Answer
Yes, you should stop and say kaddish when the tenth participant arrives. However, kaddish is said on Torah verses. Therefore, you should first say the last three verses of ashrei, or any other three verses, and they say kaddish, so that there be on what to say the kaddish.
May your prayers be willingly accepted
Source
Mishnah Berurah, ch. 581, subsection 4