If one has a minyan in town that one usually davens at but one wants to go 30 minutes out of town to a different minyan because of a friend who is making bris for his son, is this ok? Can one travel before davening? True, I will be davening in the other city, but my main reason for traveling is for the bris? However, if I 1st daven in my own town I will either miss the bris, or have to daven before haneitz hachama.
Answer:
It is permitted to travel to the bris before davening.
Sources: Travelling before davening for the purpose of going to a bris is a devar mitzvah, and it is therefore permitted before davening, as Shluchan Aruch rules concerning preparations for Shabbos (siman 251; see Aruch Hashulchan 89:22).
In addition, Rema writes that some are lenient concerning journeying before davening, provided one recites berachos before beginning the journey. But in this case, there is no need to recite the berachos before the journey, because it is permitted in any case.