"Minyan Man" is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

composed in 1982 by Victor Shine, also known as the man who found Yosef Shapiro. It tells the fictional story of a traveling Jewish businessman who is looking for a

minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...

for

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

in the small Jewish community of

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, and serves as the tenth man for a group of nine Jews. The song was popularized as a

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

by Lenny Solomon of

Shlock Rock Shlock Rock is an American-Israeli Jewish rock band put together in December 1985 and officially founded in 1986, led by singer Lenny Solomon (American-Israeli musician), Lenny Solomon. The band parodies popular secular songs, substituting Jew ...

in 1987. In 2015, Solomon recorded an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

version with

The Maccabeats The Maccabeats are an American Orthodox Jewish all-male a cappella group. Founded in 2007 at Yeshiva University, Manhattan, New York, the 14+ member group specializes in covers and parodies of contemporary hits using Jewish-themed lyrics. Their b ...

. Two

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s have been produced.

Background

The term ''minyan man'' refers to the tenth man who completes a Jewish prayer quorum; with less than ten men present, the congregation would not be permitted to recite

Kaddish The Kaddish (, 'holy' or 'sanctification'), also transliterated as Qaddish, is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the lit ...

, read from the Torah, or perform other parts of the public prayer service. According to

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

, not all ten need be actively praying; as long as a majority of six men are actively engaged in prayer, the other four may stand by and answer

amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

to the others' blessings. Traditionally,

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s in small communities paid a small stipend to a minyan man—typically a poor person or an older individual subsisting on public welfare—whose job it was to attend all weekday,

, and

holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

services in order to guarantee a quorum for public prayer. The minyan man was especially important to ensure a minyan for non-regular worshippers who came to synagogue services once a year on the

yahrtzeit Yahrzeit (, plural , ) is the anniversary of a death in Judaism. It is traditionally commemorated by reciting the Kaddish in synagogue and by lighting a long-burning candle. Name The word ''Yahrzeit'' is a borrowing from the Yiddish (), ul ...

(anniversary of death) of their deceased parent in order to recite the

Mourner's Kaddish The Kaddish (, 'holy' or 'sanctification'), also transliterated as Qaddish, is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the li ...

Recording history

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

1986, composer Victor Shine sent a cassette recording of his original song "Minyan Man" to Lenny Solomon of

. Solomon re-arranged it as a

and recorded it on the band's

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

album ''Jewish Pride'', released four months later. Noted Jewish musician Gershon Veroba sang the lead vocals on the track. Shlock Rock considers "Minyan Man" one of their top five all-time hits. The song entered Jewish popular culture as a

kumzits Kumzits () is used to describe a musical gathering that Jews partake in. Everyone sits together, be it on the floor or on chairs, and sings spiritually moving songs. To establish a certain ambiance the lighting is often low and candles are prim ...

and campfire song. In 2015, Solomon recorded an

version of "Minyan Man" with

. He released this version on Shlock Rock's 2015

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

''Shlockapella''. "Minyan Man" was also covered by

Yidcore Yidcore are an Australian Jewish punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1998. Known primarily for playing punk covers of Jewish and Israeli songs, the band started writing more of its own material in later albums. Logo The band's logo is ...

, an Australian Jewish

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band.

Music videos

The original video for "Minyan Man" was produced, directed, and filmed by Phillip S. Schiller in 1989. Outdoor scenes of Solomon driving through a town (identified as

, in the song) by bus and meeting a rabbi on the street were filmed in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

. Indoor scenes of a minyan praying in the back of a hardware store were filmed in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and featured elderly members of Knesseth Israel Congregation of Birmingham. The video was released on ''Shlock Rock Videos – Volume 1'' in November 1990. A new music video featuring an

version of the song, sung by Solomon and members of The Maccabeats, was recorded at the historic Stanton Street Synagogue in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, in March 2015. Black and white scenes of Solomon and the minyan members from the 1989 video were intercut into the new video, which was produced and filmed by Uri Westrich.

Notes

References

External links

Lyrics at jyrics.com"Shlock Rock featuring The Maccabeats – Minyan Man" (2015 video)Shlock Rock performs "Minyan Man" with composer Victor Shine in 2010
{{authority control 1987 songs Jewish rock Songs about Alabama Jews and Judaism in Mobile, Alabama