Davening at a Distant Shule

Davening in a Shul Located Farther Away

The Magen Avraham tells us that since a person receives schar psios, a reward for every step they take going to shul, one should choose to daven in a shul located farther from one’s home. There are some poskim who qualify this by saying that it only applies if the more distant shul has an advantage over the closer one; for example, if it is a holier shul, there are more mispalelim (congregants), or if the person has become accustomed to davening there. Certainly, all poskim agree that if having to go farther would interfere with his getting to shul and davening with a minyan, or with his being one of the asarah rishonim (first ten people to arrive), which is very praiseworthy, then he should go to the closer one. Certainly, if the shul near one’s home is dependent upon him to complete the minyan, he should daven there. One application of the mitzvah of schar psios in today’s day and age—when we often travel by car—is that one should go to shul on foot; but again, if that will get in the way of their fulfilling the mitzvah properly, or from going to shul altogether, then they should go by car. #391

https://halacha2go.com?number=391

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.