Most say "three."​ Some say "two." Why the disagreement? And what's behind the two positions? We go back to the Mishnah and survey 1500 years of debate. Not so bad, we not-so modestly think, for twelve-plus minutes!

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In traditional Ashkenazi siddurim, you'll find this instruction, right before Sh'ma Yisrael: "when praying in private, add 'El Melekh Ne'eman.'" Is this a big deal? Well, when you say "El Melekh Ne'eman" you're adding material to k'ri'at Sh'ma (the recitation of Sh'ma and its accompanying b'rakhot), without any authorization in the classical sources, and the halakhah has a big problem with that. It shouldn't be there... but it is! And that fact tells us something about the capacity of Jewish law to change, to accommodate itself to the needs of those who pray. So yes, it is ​a big deal!

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

We all know that a minyan, the quorum needed for communal prayer (t'filah b'tzibur), is composed of a minimum of ten adults. Children, who have no obligation (yet) to fulfill mitzvot, don't count in a minyan. But already in Talmudic times and through the Middle Ages, some rabbis wanted to include a child in a minyan, at least as the tenth person alongside nine adults. In this installment, we take a brief look at their arguments and at what they might teach us about the value of "inclusion."