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I was under the impression that from the literal word for word interpretation, that רוב עם הדרת מלך meant literally most of nation respects the king. Does this mean that it applies when only three men are praying together?

Practically, does this mean that if 100 men can choose to daven together in one large minyan versus 10 smaller ones, they should all daven together?

Does it also mean that if three men are davening together its more preferable than each davening alone?

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Wizlog, are you asking about the meaning of the phrase or its application in certain circumstances? – Double AA♦ May 9 '12 at 3:16
@DoubleAA Aren't they the same? – wizlog May 9 '12 at 19:00
No. The former could either be an explanation of the meaning of the concept in general, or a literal translation (which you have wrong in the question). The latter would be do we apply rule X in situation Y; it's much more of a question about Y than X. – Double AA♦ May 9 '12 at 19:24
@DoubleAA: I guess I'm looking for both then. I'm looking for to understand the general concept, and how its applied to a specific situation (eg. three men...) – wizlog May 10 '12 at 1:38

1 Answer

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Be-rov am, hadras melech.

When many of the people get together, that provides glory for the King.

("Rov" sometimes means "most of", but can also simply mean "many." "Rov banav v'kinyanav al ha'etz talisa" -- Haman's many (not "most of") sons were hung.

IIRC it's the mishna brurah who in fact recommends those who daven shachris on Shabbos in small minyanim to join the big synagogues for mussaf, out of "b'rov am hadras melech."

As for 3 people vs 1, I don't know.

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Mishlei 14:28 – Double AA♦ May 9 '12 at 3:03
I don't think Rov ever means strict majority in Tanakh. – Double AA♦ May 9 '12 at 3:04
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And the MB is OC 90 sk 28 – Double AA♦ May 9 '12 at 3:04

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