Praying With a Minyan or Before Sof Zman Tefillah?
Question
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your question.
Here is the order of preference:
1. To pray with a minyan before Magen Avraham Kriat Shema deadline.
2. To pray with a minya before the Gra Kriat Shema deadline
3. If one is concerned that he will miss zman tefillah, then he should daven b’yechidus before the time passes. This applies only if it is a one-time occurrence. If, however, this happens regularly, then one should daven with a minyan and not alone, even if it will be after zman tefillah.
(The zman tefillah mentioned above depends on one’s practice: if one is particular to always daven before the first zman, then it refers to the first zman. If, however, one also davens before the second zman, then it refers to davening before the second zman.)
Of course, if one is concerned that he will not make the Kirat Shema deadline in the course of praying Shacharit then one must recite the Shema alone before the deadline.
