Ravin bar Rav Adda said that Rabbi Yitzḥak said: One who is accustomed to come to the synagogue and did not come one day, the Holy One, Blessed be He, asks about him, as it were, to determine what happened to him, as it is stated: “Who among you fears the Lord? Who hears the voice of His servant? Though he walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God” (Isaiah 50:10).
אִם לִדְבַר מִצְוָה הָלַךְ — נוֹגַהּ לוֹ, וְאִם לִדְבַר הָרְשׁוּת הָלַךְ — אֵין נוֹגַהּ לוֹ.
If it is for a matter involving a mitzva that he went, there is light for him. But if it is for an optional matter that he went then, even once the day begins, there is no light for him (Maharsha).
מִ֤י בָכֶם֙ יְרֵ֣א יְהוָ֔ה שֹׁמֵ֖עַ בְּק֣וֹל עַבְדּ֑וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔וֹ יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו׃
Who among you reveres the LORD And heeds the voice of His servant?— Though he walk in darkness And have no light, Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God.
The verse continues: “Let him trust in the name of the Lord.” The Gemara asks: What is the reason? The Gemara answers: Because he should have relied on the name of the Lord, and he did not rely on God.*
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: When the Holy One, Blessed be He, enters a synagogue and does not find ten people there, He immediately becomes angry, as it is stated: “Why, when I came, was there no one? When I called, there was no one to answer…Behold, with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness” (Isaiah 50:2).
Rabbi Ḥelbo said that Rav Huna said: One who sets a fixed place for his prayer, the God of Abraham assists him.
When he dies, those who eulogize say about him: “Where is the humble one, where is the pious one, of the disciples of our father Abraham?”
Rabbi Ḥelbo said that Rav Huna said: One who leaves the synagogue should not take large strides. Abaye explained Rav Huna’s statement and said: This halakha was only said with regard to leaving the synagogue. However, with regard to going to synagogue, it is a mitzva to run. As it is said: “And let us know, to chase to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3).
Rabbi Zeira said: Initially, when I saw the Sages running to the Rabbi’s lecture on Shabbat, I said: These Sages are desecrating Shabbat. One is prohibited from running on Shabbat in deference to the sanctity of the day. Once I heard that which Rabbi Tanḥum said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One should always run for a matter of halakha, even on Shabbat, as it is stated: “They shall walk after the Lord, who will roar like a lion” (Hosea 11:10). So I too run.
Rabbi Zeira said: The reward for attending the lecture is for running.
אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: אַגְרָא דְכַלָּה — דּוּחְקָא.
Similarly, Abaye said: The reward for attending the kalla* is for the crowding.
Rava said: The reward for learning the halakhic traditions (lit. "listenings") of the amora’im is for the analysis.
Rav Pappa said: The primary reward for attending a house of mourning [bei tammaya] is for the silence.