WINNIPEG — Winnipeg’s largest Orthodox synagogue, Herzlia-Adas Yeshurun Synagogue in the south end of the city, no longer has a stable minyan, and neither does the south end Chabad-Lubavitch.

Haskel Greenfield, who lost his father this past December, said there were quite a number of days where he went to Herzlia to say Kaddish, but it didn’t have the 10 men required for a minyan.

Greenfield told The CJN that “some days we can get a minyan, and other days we can’t. When my mother died six years ago, there was a minyan at Herzlia every day. But that is no longer the case now.”

According to Rabbi Ari Ellis, spiritual leader of Herzlia, which has a membership “of between 80 to 100 units, families and singles,” there are days when the shul doesn’t get a daily morning or evening minyan.

“The minyan is not stable enough. Especially in the winter when people go out of town, we are not able to keep a daily minyan,” Rabbi Ellis said “We are generally able to get a minyan two to three days a week, in addition to Shabbat. It varies. Some days we get one, some days we don’t.”

He added that this has been the situation for the “last year and a half” since he came to Winnipeg.

“I have considered whether we ought to go to a three-day-a-week minyan, instead of a daily one. We would have it on Sunday, and Monday and Thursday, days when we read from the Torah, in addition, of course, to Shabbat… But I have been hesitant to do this, as once we were to go to a three-day-a-week minyan, it would be pretty hard to ever go back to a daily minyan,” he said.

He also said that he tries to “ encourage an interested person to make a commitment to do one thing a week, and at times, I’d like them to consider coming to a Shabbat service or attending a class I lead, and if they’d rather do either of those things, attending a minyan won’t be their first priority.”

Rabbi Avrohom Altein of Chabad-Lubavitch, said that Chabad also doesn’t have a daily minyan in the south end.

“We have one every Shabbes and Sunday morning,” Altein told The CJN.

When he arrived in the city 18 months ago, Rabbi Ellis said he explored the idea of having members of his synagogue join Chabad daveners in the south end to make a daily Orthodox minyan viable.

“I have tried to work with Chabad in the south end to see if we could join together to ensure a daily minyan in the south end, which sometimes could be held at Herzlia and sometimes at Chabad, but it hasn’t happened. It’s been difficult to co-ordinate,” he said.

According to Rabbi Altein, in the north end of the city, the Ashkenazi Congregation, the Talmud Torah Beth Jacob Synagogue and Chabad North have joined together in a “sharing” arrangement to ensure a daily minyan.

“The Ashkenazi has minyans on weekday mornings, but not on Shabbes. Talmud Torah has no minyans during the week, but has on Shabbes. Chabad North has minyans in the evening and on Shabbes,” Rabbi Altein said.