There have been instances where we had 9 people in the shul, and we began to daven Mincha Shabbat afternoon. We finished our individual Shmoneh Esreh, when the 10th person appeared. Can we go back and read the Torah, or since we are past that point in the service, we cannot do so?
Answer
The mitzvah of reading from the Torah on Shabbos, YomTov and Mondays and Thursdays takes place during tefillah but is not dependent upon it. Certainly the preferable mode of reading from the Torah is during davening but the mitzvah lasts all day and when a minyan is available they should read from Torah. (Mishne Berurah 135:1, Shaar Hatziyun 3 and Aruch Hashulchan 135:6,7, Dagul Mervavah, Mahari Asad 58. However, some maintain that if mincha time has arrived, the Torah should not be read. See Mikraei Kodesh (Grodzinsky), Klal 13:5 and Shaarei Kedusha 10,11)
Years ago I spent my afternoons in a kosher slaughterhouse and the shochtim started working before sunrise and continued until noon with breaks after their hourly shifts. They were unable to form a minyan when they davened Shachris but, during lunch hour, when all the shochtim were off duty and could form a minyan, they read from the Torah.
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