It is preferable to recite Tehillim with the tzibbur (congregation) rather than alone.
Sources and Explanations
The virtue of reciting Tehillim is known to all, and this is not the place to repeat what is well known. However, the Sefer Pele Yoetz (entry “Tehillim”) writes that its virtue is especially great when it is recited in public, and this is his wording: “If they are recited in public, so that they may ascend, they ascend favorably more than one who engages in Nega’im and Ohalot alone.”
Rabbi Chaim Palagi likewise writes in the introduction to his sefer HaKatuv LeChaim: “And all this is individually, a man in the chambers of his imagery; in addition there is also Torah of the many (meaning, if Tehillim is recited in public), every gathering that is for the sake of Heaven in a large assembly, Shomrim LaBoker (‘guardians of the morning’), groups upon groups, on Shabbatot and on weekdays and in the vigils of Erev Rosh Chodesh, like the daily offerings in their order, every month in its month, in synagogues and in batei midrash, and it is a shield and buckler for us, that no evil befall us. And therefore they are called ‘zemirot’ (songs). And it is as we say in the Yehi Ratzon, ‘to cut down (lezamer) the tyrants and to cut off all the thorns.’ And it nullifies all the prosecutors and every adversary and accuser from upon us. And this is what King David, peace be upon him, said: ‘Who can utter (yemalel) the mighty acts of Hashem, make heard all His praise’ — for ‘yemalel’ is the language of ‘you may pluck ears (melilot),’ and who merits this — one who can make heard all His praise, which is the Tehillim. Therefore every person should strive to find a group that recites, in order to recite with them, and it will be considered for him as one who performs a mitzvah with the many.”
It appears that the reason it is preferable to recite in public is for two reasons. One, because of the law of “berov am hadrat melech” (in the multitude of people is the King’s glory); and second, because of what is mentioned in the Sifra (Parashat Bechukotai, perek 2), that the power of the many is greater than that of the individual, and therefore reciting together has a greater virtue. And this is the wording of the Sifra: “‘Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand.’ ‘Of you’ — from the weak among you, and not from the mighty among you. ‘And a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand’ — is that the calculation? (Another version: Should it not have said only ‘a hundred of you shall chase two thousand’?) Rather, the many who perform the Torah cannot be compared to the few who perform the Torah.”
Now, the reason for the virtue of reciting in public because of the law of “berov am hadrat melech” is explained in the words of Rabbeinu Yonah on the Mishnah in Avot (2:4): “Hillel says: Do not separate yourself from the community. When the community is engaged in Torah and mitzvot, it is the crown of all worlds and the glory of all His dominion, for when a multitude of people gather to fulfill His commandment, it is the glory of the King, and it is not proper to separate from them, as it says: ‘And He was King in Yeshurun when there gathered.’ And this refers to a community that goes in a good path and gathers to perform a mitzvah.”
Now, one should investigate what number of people constitutes “the many” in whose merit the recitation ascends favorably before Him, blessed be He. Are two already considered many and preferable to an individual, or perhaps ten are required, as with the law of a minyan? The poskim disagree about this, and from it we will learn to our case, with the help of Heaven.
For the Chayei Adam (klal 68, se’if 11) writes: “Any mitzvah that one can do in a group, he should do in a group and not alone, as it is written (Mishlei 14:28), ‘In the multitude of people is the King’s glory’ (Pesachim 64 and Yoma 70), and Chazal said: the many who perform a mitzvah cannot be compared to the few who perform it. And in Menachot (62a) it is implied that with three it is considered a multitude of people.” The author of the Mishnah Berurah disagrees with him in the Be’ur Halachah (siman 226, s.v. “Ela”), and after citing his words, he writes that one who recites Birkat HaLevanah should try to wait until he has ten people, because of the law of berov am.
It appears that the Mishnah Berurah himself contradicted this view of his in several places, where he wrote that with two people one also fulfills the mitzvah of “berov am.” See what he wrote on the words of the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 213:1): “On all fruits and other things except bread and wine, if those eating were two or more, one exempts the other.” And there, in the Mishnah Berurah (213:3): “That is to say, even if each one himself knows how to recite the blessing, nevertheless one recites the blessing and exempts his fellow lechatchilah (from the outset), provided that his fellow hears the blessing from beginning to end and intends to fulfill his obligation, as below in se’if 2; and this is preferable, because ‘in the multitude of people is the King’s glory.’” And he repeated this on the words of the Shulchan Aruch (167:11): “If there were two or many, one recites the blessing for all,” and in the Mishnah Berurah (167:54) he wrote that with two, one can exempt the other, and added that the reason is explained below at the beginning of siman 193 in the Mishnah Berurah, and there he explained the reason as “berov am.” And this is also the implication of the words of the Mishnah Berurah in Hilchot Tzitzit (8:13), where he wrote that it is better to recite the blessing and exempt one’s fellow in the blessing on tzitzit because of berov am.
It occurred to me to answer that perhaps his words are not contradictory: berov am is indeed fulfilled even with only a small number of people, but the more people are added, the greater the virtue of the mitzvah. Proof of this is found in the Mishnah Berurah (193:11) in the name of the Darchei Moshe, that when there are more than ten people for the purpose of zimun, it is a mitzvah min hamuvchar (the choicest manner) not to divide, whether with twenty or with six, because of “berov am hadrat melech”; only that by strict law there is no prohibition if they divide. However, he cites that some disagree with this and hold that since in each group there is also somewhat of a multitude of people, and the mitzvah of birkat zimun is also fulfilled in each and every one, therefore they are equivalent and one may do as he wishes, even lechatchilah. Therefore, even though the Be’ur Halachah concedes that there is already a virtue of a multitude of people with three, nevertheless if one can increase the virtue by waiting for ten, it is proper to do so.
It is likewise proven that the more people there are, the more strongly the law of a multitude of people is fulfilled, from what Rabbeinu Yonah (Berachot 8) cited as the view of the Rambam, that it is preferable for a person to pray in the place where he studies if there is a minyan of ten, and not go to the synagogue; and Rabbeinu Yonah explained his view, that the preference applies even though there is a multitude of people in the synagogue. We see that were it not for the matter of praying in the place where he studies, it follows that wherever there are more than ten, that is preferable to ten praying.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 1: The Virtues and Merits of Saying Tehillim, Halacha 4 (p. 8 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
