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 argument that Rav Shlomo Zalman makes is both simple and powerful. Once a human voice goes through an electric current of any kind it has been fundamentally changed to such an extent that no Mitzvot of speech can be fulfilled (all the more so, the shofar can not be fulfilled). The Halakhic mechanism that allows one person to fulfill the obligation of another through speech is known as “שומע כעונה – hearing is like answering.” Rav Shlomo Zalman appears to claim that an electronic human voice is simply no longer equipped to accomplish this goal.

It is important to note that Rav Shlomo Zalman wrote this teshuva in an analogue technological environment, which is why he continues to write about the vibrating membrane. His argument would certainly apply in the digital age and over the internet when everything is turned into 1’s and 0’s. While his claim seems like a reasonable argument to make, he does not really have a source that supports him other than his own logic. Given Rav Shlomo Zalman’s authority and standing in the world of Halakha he has the right to make such a logical deduction. The question that we need to address is, do we find it convincing?

In the middle of his analysis he offers the following apology:

מצטער אני שלפי זה נמצא שהאנשים אשר אזנם כבדה משמוע ומשתמשים במכשיר של מיקרופון וטלפון קטן לקרב את קול המדבר לאזנם שלפי”ז אינם יוצאים כלל חובת שופר ומקרא מגילה וכדומה. ועכ”פ אינם רשאים לברך על שמיעה זו כיון שאף גם הם שומעים רק קול תנודות של ממברנה

I am sad to say that according to this, it would turn out that people who are hard of hearing and use a microphone or small telephone to bring the voice of the one speaking closer to their ears, do not fulfill their obligations of shofar or Megilla and the like, at all. And it is at least the case that they are not permitted to make a blessing since they are only really hearing the vibrations of the membrane.

The implications of his position are quite obvious. If all electronic voices are no longer considered human, then a hearing aid makes it impossible to fulfill mitzvot of speech. It is unusual for a posek to insert an apology into the middle of his own teshuva. Rav Shlomo Zalman seems to understand just how painful such a psak is for the lived experience of Jews who are hard of hearing. 

Part of what interests me is that while many quote the general idea of Rav Shlomo Zalman as it relates to not being to fulfill Mitzvot of speech over an electronic medium, most are hesitant to follow the logic to its natural conclusion. 

He concluded the teshuva with this short summary:

קצור הדברים הוא שאין להשתמש בביהכ”נ לצרכי תפילה במיקרופון ורם-קול…ואף שיודע אני שרבים יתמהו על כך וכמו זר יהיה דבר זה בעיניהם, עם כל זאת האמת הוא כדברינו. וברור הוא בעיני שזה מוזר רק לאלה שאינם יודעים כלל מה טיבם של המכשירים האלה (וחושבים מחשבות הבל שחוטי הטלפון או גלי הרדיו מוליכים ממש את קול האדם. וכדי להוציא מלבם טעות זו הארכתי מאד בביאור הדברים) אבל לא ליודעים את האמת, כי בדברי בזה עם מביני מדע ויודעים בהלכה כולם הסכימו לי. 

The summary of the matter is that a shul may not use a microphone or loud-speaker for any prayer need…And even though I know that that many will be surprised by this, and that it will seem very strange in their eyes, nevertheless, the truth is like I said. And it is clear to me that this is only strange to people who do not at all understand the nature of these kinds of tools (and they think foolish thoughts, like that the telephone wires or radio waves transmit the actual human voice. And in order to disabuse them of this error, I have written at length). But this will not sound strange to those who know the truth, for when I spoke with people who understand the science and also know Halakha, they all agreed with me.

This teshuva is written with the confidence that befits the authority of Rav Shlomo Zalman. He believes that he has the scientific truth which drives his understanding of the Halakha and he is not interested in any compromise. However, after the article was completed, Rav Shlomo Zalman described having a conversation with his Rebbe / Chaver the Chazon Ish. This is his report of that conversation:

/הערת המחבר/ +לאחר שכבר נדפס מאמר זה נזדמן לי לדבר עם מרן בעל החזו”א זצ”ל ואמר לי שלדעתו אין זה כ”כ פשוט, ויתכן דכיון שהקול הנשמע נוצר ע”י המדבר וגם הקול נשמע מיד כדרך המדברים “אפשר” דגם זה חשיב כשומע ממש מפי המדבר או התוקע, וכמדומה לי שצריכים לומר לפי”ז דמה שאמרו בגמ’ אם קול הברה שמע לא יצא, היינו מפני שקול הברה נשמע קצת לאחר קול האדם משא”כ בטלפון ורם-קול, ולענ”ד הוא חידוש גדול מאד ואין אני מבין אותו.+ 

/Footnote of the author/ After this article had already been printed I was given the opportunity to speak with our teacher the author of the Chazon Ish and he said to me, “The matter is not that simple, and that it could be that since the voice that is heard was created by the one speaking, and that voice is heard immediately, like when people are in conversation, ‘it is possible’ that is to be considered like hearing literally from the mouth of the speaker or the Shofar. And it appears to me that we would have to say according to this, that when the gemara says that if you heard the voice of the echo you have fulfilled your obligation [of shofar], this is because the echo is heard a bit after the voice of the person. And this is not the case with the telephone or loud-speaker.” And according to my humble opinion this is a major innovation and I [Rav Shlomo Zalman] don’t understand him [the Chazon Ish].

The irony of Rav Shlomo Zalman’s concluding line should not be lost on us. The Chazon Ish’s approach is in line with the vast majority of poskim who addressed this issue in the later part of 19th and early 20th century. Rav Shlomo Zalman’s position, while loosely based on Rav Uziel and Rav Eliezer Waldenberg, is a massive innovation in the history of Halakha.

It is difficult to quantify the impact of this teshuva, but everyone who addresses the question of Mitzvot over an electronic (analogue or digital) medium has to deal with Rav Shlomo Zalman’s idea. Next week we will present the unique position of Rav Moshe Feinstein z”l on this issue and then we will offer some concluding thoughts.