Does an aveil (mourner) who acts as a shatz (prayer leader) benefit the
deceased if the minyan doesn't appreciate his doing so [he's not mrutzeh
(e.g. he mispronounces many words, his pace differs from community
norms...)]
Moadim Lsimcha/gmar tov
Joel Rich
How can it be? It's not like the chiyuv for the amud is really a chiyuv.
Even qaddish is minhag -- and he could say that without taking the amud.
For example, they say that R' Yisrael Salanter held that giving the amud to
the other aveil is a better zekhus for the niftar than taking it yourself.
I think that the main reason why culture so emphasizes this one ritual
for aveilus is because of the number of people for which a year of going
to shul regularly is the start of taking minyan more seriously for the
rest of their lives.
So, if we find other ways to encourage shul attendance (Qaddish is still
an issue), even that motive is addressed.
Chodesh Tov!
Tir'u baTov!
-Micha