Walk into almost any Orthodox synagogue on a Shabbat morning today, and you’ll likely find a 7:15am hashkama minyan packed with congregants. It feels like one of those timeless, quintessential institutions of Orthodox Jewish life today.

However, the truth is that the early minyan is an American Jewish invention with roots over a century old—and its original attendees weren’t trying to beat the kiddush rush or skip a long sermon. They were trying to keep their jobs.

At the turn of the twentieth century, most Jewish immigrants worked in factories, sweatshops, and retail stores. The six-day workweek was standard, and Sunday blue laws made things even tougher. Employers who closed on Sunday demanded that workers show up on Saturday. As historians often sum up the era’s brutal ultimatum: If you don’t come in on Saturday, don’t bother coming in on Monday.

This created a painful dilemma for observant Jews. You could be deeply committed to Shabbat, but facing the loss of your family’s livelihood was a heavy weight.

Enter the early Shabbat morning service.

Jeffrey Gurock, a leading historian of American Orthodoxy, points out that rabbis quickly realized many of their congregants would be at work during standard shul hours. Their answer was simple and compassionate: open the doors early, let people........

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