Musar for Berakhot 15:5
אמר ר"ל כל מי שיש לו בית הכנסת בעירו ואינו נכנס שם להתפלל נקרא שכן רע שנאמר (ירמיהו יב, יד) כה אמר ה' על כל שכני הרעים הנוגעים בנחלה אשר הנחלתי את עמי את ישראל ולא עוד אלא שגורם גלות לו ולבניו שנא' (ירמיהו יב, יד) הנני נותשם מעל אדמתם ואת בית יהודה אתוש מתוכם.
R. Simeon b. Lakish said : Whoever has a Synagogue in his town, and does not enter it to pray, is called "an evil neighbour"; as it is said, "Thus saith the Lord, As for all Mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit" (Jer. xii. 14). More than that, he causes exile to come upon himself and his sons ; as it is said, "Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them" (ibid.).
Shemirat HaLashon
I have, therefore, undertaken to set forth the importance of congregational prayer. But first, let us explain the great obligation thereof. The formulation of our sages of blessed memory — "four mils to prayer" is well known. Many of the Rishonim explain this as meaning that if one is walking on the road and he knows that four mils further on he will find a minyan, he must wait [to pray] until he comes there. As far as going back, if he knows that he will find a minyan within the distance of a mil, he must go back. From this we can understand that certainly, if he can find a minyan in the city, even if it is almost a mil away, he must go there. And our sages of blessed memory have already said (Berachoth 8a): "Whoever has a synagogue in his city and does not frequent it for prayer is called 'a bad neighbor.'"
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