quorum

1. the minimal number of officers and members of a committee or organization, usually a majority, who must be present for valid transaction of business 2. a select group


A friend at work used the word “quorum” and then asked what it meant. I somewhat hastily said something about it being a Jewish thing and that it meant 10 or more, after which I looked at the dictionary and discovered that its meaning was entirely different. I should have known better. I mean, “quorum” is about as Latin as words get. Anyway, the word was still gnawing at me, so I decided to look it up at Wikipedia, and, lo, there was a reason for my original thought: “Individual prayer is considered acceptable, but prayer with a quorum of ten adults (a minyan) is considered ‘prayer with the community,’ and this is the most highly recommended form of prayer.”

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2 Responses to quorum

  1. tammy says:

    this is an interesting word today. i found it especially amusing that your workmate used the word, THEN asked what it meant!! i love that! do you know how it was decided that community prayer was the most highly recommended? i suppose i could go to wikipedia myself, but then i might not hear from you, which is preferable.

  2. Karl says:

    Hey Tammy, yeah I thought that was amusing, too. I’m not sure why community prayer is recommended, but I guess it has something to do with strength in numbers. Nice to hear from you!

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