Do Not Separate Yourself from Community

….. In classical Hebrew there are three different words for community, and they signify different types of association.

tzibbur. ציבור

edah עדה

kehilla. קהילה

Tiferet Yisrael on Pirkei Avot 2:4 (R' Israel Lipschitz; 1782-1860, Germany)
[Hillel's teaching] includes five ideas:

1. That one should not separate himself from (​minhagei tzibur) the customs of the community.
2. When the community gathers at its routine times, one should rouse himself for study, for prayer, to discuss matters of mitzvah, or the needs of the community. A person should not say, "They can decide what they want, and I--myself--will agree and accept what has been decided." Rather, one should assume a role in the communal gatherings, advising for (​l'tovot ha-tzibur) the health of the community and always in the service of God.
3. When the community is in a troubled state, even if the individual is not in that same sadness, he should feel their troubles as if he too were troubled. Thus, he can be with them in their sadness.
4. When one prays for his own needs, he should include in his prayers the same wish for all those who are needy, thereby including himself among those who are in need.
5. For one who is appointed to oversee the (minhagei tzibur) customs of the community: if the heads of the community are all mixed up in conflict, and they do not represent the community, even if the overseer is one of them and equal to them, he should not separate himself entirely from the general community, in order for him to manage them. There is no honor in getting mixed up among his servants. He works for the community's love, since they think of him as a stranger who is proud to be among them.

This is what the Sage is saying: One who knows the correct (middah) value of blending together confidence for the community with humility, one who can suitably balance measure for measure, at the appropriate time, in the appropriate place, with the appropriate person -- that is a person who is accomplished and should be loved and always respected.

When our ancestors were on their journey through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, God instructed Moses to tell the people:

Make a holy place for Me, so that I may dwell among them. (Ex 25:8)

At first glance this decree looks odd. Shouldn’t the purpose of a holy place for God to dwell within it?

Not at all. We know that God does not reside in any physical place, holy or otherwise.
The Holy One dwells in the places where the people gather.
It is the process of creating a congregation--a kehilla kedosha, a holy community--that forms any sanctuary or temple.

And so we ask the Source of Life to bless us as we gather here for Torah, avodah, and gemilut hasidim- for the wisdom of Torah, for the service of the heart, and for acts of lovingkindess. And in the process, we create a mikdash--a living sanctuary: our holy place.