The Rav's Shulchan Aruch, OC 52, clearly states that, because saying amida (sh'mone esre) with a congregation is so important, one who arrives late to a congregational shacharis service should skip earlier portions of the prayers in order to say amida with the congregation. He should even, if necessary to reach amida in time, skip almost all of the prayers before Yotzer.
Yet I don't see Chabad-Lubavitch folks (well, men), who I'd think would follow the Rav, doing so. In my experience, Lubavitch latecomers pray without skipping, even if skipping would enable them to say amida with the congregation.
Is there some authority they rely on for this practice? (Does, perhaps, the Rav elsewhere (e.g., in his notes on the sidur) or one of the later Lubavitch rebbes say to practice thus?)
