אמר ר' אבהו בן זוטרתי אמר רב יהודה בר זבידא בקשו לקבוע פרשת בלק בקריאת שמע ומפני מה לא קבעוה משום טורח צבור
Rabbi Avohu son of Zutroti said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda son of Zevida, the Sages sought to establish the portion of Balak as part of the recitation of Shema but they did not wish to institute the recitation of the entire portion of Balak to avoid placing an encumbrance on the congregation.
פעם אחת נתקשרו שמים בעבים כסבורים העם לומר חשכה הוא ונכנסו לבית הכנסת והתפללו של מוצאי שבת בשבת ונתפזרו העבים וזרחה החמה ובאו ושאלו את רבי ואמר הואיל והתפללו התפללו שאני צבור דלא מטרחינן להו:
Once the sky became overcast, leading the people to think that it was the dark of night; they entered the synagogue and recited the evening prayer of the conclusion of Shabbat on Shabbat. And later, the clouds cleared and the sun shone, indicating that it was still day. And they came and asked Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi what they should do, and he said: Since they have prayed, they have prayed, and they need not pray again. Although they prayed erroneously, their mistake is not reversible and what was done remains. The Gemara responds: A community is different in that we do not burden them to pray again.
ת"ר המתפלל צריך שיכוין את לבו לשמים אבא שאול אומר סימן לדבר (תהלים י, יז) תכין לבם תקשיב אזנך תניא א"ר יהודה כך היה מנהגו של ר"ע כשהיה מתפלל עם הצבור היה מקצר ועולה מפני טורח צבור וכשהיה מתפלל בינו לבין עצמו אדם מניחו בזוית זו ומוצאו בזוית אחרת וכל כך למה מפני כריעות והשתחויות:
The Sages taught in the Tosefta: One who prays must focus his heart toward Heaven. Abba Shaul says: An indication of the importance of this matter is stated in the verse: “The desire of the humble You have heard, Lord; direct their hearts, Your ear will listen” (Psalms 10:17). In other words, if one focuses his heart in prayer as a result of God directing his heart, his prayer will be accepted as God’s ear will listen. With regard to one’s intent during prayer, it was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda said: This was the custom of Rabbi Akiva, when he would pray with the congregation he would shorten his prayer and go up, due to his desire to avoid being an encumbrance on the congregation by making them wait for him to finish his prayer. But when he prayed by himself he would extend his prayers to an extent that a person would leave Rabbi Akiva alone in one corner of the study hall and later find him still praying in another corner. And why would Rabbi Akiva move about so much? Because of his bows and prostrations. Rabbi Akiva’s enthusiasm in prayer was so great, that as a result of his bows and prostrations, he would unwittingly move from one corner to the other (Rav Hai Gaon).
אמאי נגלול וניקרי אמר רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע אמר רב ששת לפי שאין גוללין ספר תורה בציבור מפני כבוד ציבור ונייתי אחרינא ונקרי רב הונא בר יהודה אמר משום פגמו של ראשון וריש לקיש אמר משום ברכה שאינה צריכה
It was further taught in the mishna: The Torah portion beginning with the verse: “And on the tenth,” from the book of Numbers (29:7), he reads by heart. The Gemara asks: Why does he read it by heart? Let him furl the scroll to that portion and read it from the text. Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said that Rav Sheshet said: It is because one may not furl a Torah scroll in public, out of respect for the community. It is inappropriate to make the community wait until they have reached the next section. But why not let another Torah scroll be brought that has previously been furled to that portion and read from it? Rav Huna bar Yehuda said: People might mistakenly think the second scroll was brought due to a flaw that was found in the first one. And Reish Lakish said a different reason: A second scroll should not be brought due to the fact that doing do will cause an unnecessary blessing to be recited; before reading from a new scroll the High Priest would have to repeat the blessings required upon reading from the Torah. Therefore, it is preferable that he read by heart.
(כג) אֵין קוֹרְאִין בְּחֻמָּשִׁין בְּבָתֵּי כְּנֵסִיּוֹת מִשּׁוּם כְּבוֹד צִבּוּר. וְאֵין גּוֹלְלִין סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה בְּצִבּוּר מִפְּנֵי טֹרַח הַצִּבּוּר שֶׁלֹּא יַטְרִיחַ עֲלֵיהֶם לִהְיוֹתָן עוֹמְדִין עַד שֶׁיִּגְלל סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה. לְפִיכָךְ אִם יִצְטָרְכוּ לִקְרוֹת שְׁנֵי עִנְיָנִים מוֹצִיאִין שְׁנֵי סִפְרֵי תּוֹרָה. וְלֹא יִקְרָא אִישׁ אֶחָד עִנְיָן אֶחָד בִּשְׁתֵּי תּוֹרוֹת שֶׁמָּא יֹאמְרוּ סֵפֶר רִאשׁוֹן פָּגוּם הָיָה וּלְפִיכָךְ קוֹרֵא בַּשֵּׁנִי:
(23) Scrolls of single books of the Pentateuch are not used for reading at services in synagogues, out of respect to the congregation. Nor is the scroll of the Law rolled***To the right place for the reading. at a public service, out of regard to the convenience of the congregants so that they should not have the trouble of standing while the scroll is being rolled. Hence, if two sections in different parts of the text are to be read, two scrolls are taken out. One person must not read one section in two scrolls, lest it will be said that the first scroll was defective and therefore he read out of the second.
מדלגין בנביא ואין מדלגין בתורה ועד כמה הוא מדלג עד כדי שלא יפסוק המתורגמן:
One may skip from one place to another while reading the Prophets, but one may not skip from one place to another while reading the Torah. How far may he skip? As far as he can, provided that the translator will not conclude his translation while the reader is still rolling the scroll to the new location. The reader may not cause the congregation to wait for him after the translator has finished, as that would be disrespectful to the congregation.
ואמר רבי תנחום אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי אין שליח צבור רשאי להפשיט את התיבה בצבור מפני כבוד צבור
And Rabbi Tanḥum says that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: The prayer leader is not permitted to uncover the decorative covering of the ark in public, out of respect for the congregation. It is inappropriate to have the congregation wait while doing this.
רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר מנין לזקן שלא יטריח ת"ל זקן ויראת
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: From where is it derived that an elder should not trouble others to honour him? The verse states: “And you shall revere the face of an elder, and you shall fear your God.” The phrase “an elder, and you shall fear,” read by itself, without the rest of the verse, indicates that an elder is also commanded to fear God, and not purposefully act in a manner to cause others to have to honour him.
(ג) אין גוללין ס"ת בצבור מפני כבוד הצבור ואם אין להם אלא ס"ת אחד והם צריכים לקרות בשני עניינים גוללים וידחה כבוד הצבו':
(3) It is not proper to roll the Torah scroll in the presence of the congregation, so as to honor the congregation. And if they only have a single Torah scroll and they have to read two portions they may roll, and they defer the honor of the congregation
(ה) (ה) מוסיף - ונכון שלא להוסיף הרבה מפני טורח הצבור ובמקום שיש לחוש לתרעומות איזה אנשים כשלא יקראו להם לתורה א"צ לדקדק בזה. כתבו האחרונים דבשבת שקורין ב' פרשיות יש לקרות מנין חצי הקרואים מהשבעה בכל סדרה דהיינו שקורא להרביעי קצת מהסדר א' ומהסדר ב' ג' פסוקים עכ"פ ואין לחוש במה שיוסיף על השבעה בסדר ב' כיון דאין שום חיוב מן הדין להוסיף:
To add - and it is correct not to add too many extra Aliyot, due to the burden on the congregation, and in a place where one is concerned about causing Machloket, one should not be concerned.
הגה ואם יש יחידים בקהל שמאריכים בתפלתם אין לש"צ להמתין עליהם ואפי' היו חשובי העיר וכן אם היה מנין בב"ה אין להמתין על אדם חשוב או גדול שעדיין לא בא [בנימין זאב סי' קס"ח]:
(Rema) If there are individuals in the community who are taking long over their prayers, the Chazzan does not need to wait for them, even if they are from the prominent members of the community. And if they are waiting for them to arrive to begin the service, they do not need to wait for them to arrive to begin.
(ז) אין לש"ץ להמתין. ועכשיו נהגו להמתין על האב"ד
(7) The Chazzan shouldn't wait. And now we are accustomed to wait for the Head of the Beth Din.
ומי שצריך להאריך וירא שיתלוצצו עליו יכול לילך לאחוריו בשעה שמתחיל הש"ץ אע"פ שעדיין לא גמר תפלתו ויחזור למקומו ויגמור. ובכל זה אם כונתו לש"ש בזה שפיר דמי [פמ"ג]:
If someone needs to lengthen their prayer and he is fearful that he will be mocked, he is able to take three steps backwards, in order that the Chazzan will begin, even though he has not finished his prayers and then return to his place and complete davening. So long as his intentions are for the sake of heaven.