Starting Davening Before Congregation

If one who is accustomed to davening neitz is davening in a neitz minyan, and sees they will get to amida a few minutes later than it says on the calendar (say 5 min), is it better to wait or start alone? Would starting alone in such a case be considered “beyichidus”?

Do sefardim daven neitz a bit later than ashkenazim?

Answer:

One should start at the right time, even if this is a little earlier than the others in the minyan.

This is certainly no worse than davening alone, which is also proper (for somebody who regularly davens at hanetz hachamah) when faced with the option of missing hanetz hachamah or missing a minyan.

In addition, if one’s davening overlaps with the davening of the congregation, it is considered a certain level of tefillah betzibur, and certainly better than davening alone — though it is in general best to begin together with the tzibbur.

I don’t believe sefardim have a later time for hanetz hachamah, though perhaps they follow the astronomical time rather than the seen time to a greater degree, which can cause the time to be a little later.

Best wishes.