בבא מציעא פ“ג ע“ב] דרש רבי זירא ואמרי לה תני רב יוסף מאי דכתיב (תהילים קד:כ) תָּשֶׁת חֹשֶׁךְ וִיהִי לָיְלָה, בּוֹ תִרְמֹשׂ כָּל חַיְתוֹ יָעַר. תָּשֶׁת חֹשֶׁךְ וִיהִי לָיְלָה – זה העולם הזה שדומה ללילה. בּוֹ תִרְמֹשׂ כָּל חַיְתוֹ יָעַר – אלו רשעים שבו שדומין לחיה שביער.
Bava Metzia 83b] R. Zeira interpreted a verse homiletically, and some say that Rav Yosef taught in a baraita: “You make darkness and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep forth” (Psalms 104:20). “You make darkness and it is night” – this refers to this world, which resembles nighttime. “In which all the beasts of the forest creep forth” – these are the wicked in this world, who resemble a beast of the forest.
Rabbi Simcha Zissel of Kelm z”l(d. 1898, close student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter z”l) built his spiritual worldview on a single line from Pirkei Avot (6:6). He believed that the goal of a Torah life is to learn how to be “נושא בעול עם חברו – to bear the burden of another.” In choosing this line as the basis of his theology, Rav Simcha Zissel centered and highlighted a human ethic. This short essay presents one paragraph from the first chapter of his magnum opus, Chochma u’Mussar, as a way to frame some thoughts about racial injustice, civil unrest, and law enforcement.…
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach z”l (d. 1995. Israel)
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach printed a lengthy teshuva in 1948 that shifted the Halakhic discourse on this issue – see שו”ת מנחת שלמה חלק א סימן ט. Rav Shlomo Zalman became famous for his approach to electricity – the second two thirds of the teshuva are part of his analysis of the Shabbat question. The first ענף is a total rejection of nearly every posek who preceded him on the question of fulfilling Mitzvot over the phone.
His argument is actually quite simple. He began the teshuva with a lengthy description of how analogue microphones work. After presenting his scientific findings, he outlines what he thinks quite succinctly:
א. אחרי כל התיאור האמור לעיל נראה שהשומע קול שופר או מקרא מגלה ע”י טלפון או רם-קול (אף אם לא נאמר שהקול משתנה קצת ולענין שופר דינו כתוקע לתוך הבור או דות) לא יצא כלל ידי חובתו, משום דדוקא כשרושם שמיעת האוזן נעשה באופן ישר ע”י קול השופר שמזעזע את האויר ויוצר בו גלי קול אז חשיב כשומע קול שופר. משא”כ כשהאוזן שומעת רק תנודות של ממברנה אף על פי שגם אותן התנודות יוצרות באויר גלי קול ממש כדוגמת קול השופר אפי”ה מסתבר שרק קול תנודות ממברנה הוא שומע ולא קול שופר…
After everything that I described above it appears that one who hears the Shofar or the Megilla on a telephone or speaker (even if we do not claim that the sound changes enough for it to be considered an echo for the purposes of the Shofar) has not fulfilled his obligation at all. This is because it is only when the trace of the sound that reaches the ear comes straight from the voice of the shofar which is vibrating in the air and creates sound-waves – then, and only then, it is considered like hearing the sound of the shofar. Which is not the case when the ear only hears the vibrations of the membrane. Even though the vibrations created in the air are exactly the same sound-waves as the voice of the shofar, even so it seems logical that you are only hearing the vibrations of the membrane and not the sound of the shofar.
The general approach of the major poskim before WWII was lenient and followed the lead of Rabbi Litvin. Some were not prepared to permit Shofar, but all Mitzvot that were based on hearing were seen as obviously permissible on the phone.
The main dissenting voice at this time was Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel. He wrote one teshuva about recorded material (שו”ת משפטי עוזיאל כרך א – אורח חיים סימן ה) and one about synchronous use of the telephone (שו”ת משפטי עוזיאל כרך א – אורח חיים סימן כא). He had no patience to seriously consider the possibility that one should even answer Amem on a gramophone. However, when it came to the telephone he was at least willing to consider that one might be able to fulfill their obligations in this way. …
