6051 – Replant the Cochlear Implant?

We must add that Rav Asher Wise (Medical Halacha Org.) quotes that R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l (Minchas Shlomo 1:9), who ruled that a person does not fulfill his Shofar obligation via a microphone since the sound is an electrical reproduction, not a human voice. However, he relates in an addendum that he heard the Chazon Ish assert that since the voice is generated by a person’s speech and is heard in real-time, it is considered as if it is the actual voice. R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l was similarly inclined, permitting one to fulfill the Mitzva of Megila in this way. HaGaon Rav Asher Weiss Shlit”a explained their reasoning: since the voice reaches the listener unchanged and in real-time it is considered Sh’mia. Rav Asher, however, is inclined to follow R’ Shlomo Zalman’s view.

Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Shlomo Miller, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a, and Horav Dovid Bartfeld consulting, Horav Hagaon Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz Shlit’a