- Megavolt

Taken from Zomet Institute
The Zomet Institute is an Israeli high-tech non-profit organization specializing in IT equipment and electronic appliances designed to meet Halacha.

Question: I have heard that some people object to using Shabbat amplifiers installed by the Zomet Institute because of mar’it ayin – it gives the appearance of sin. I would like to know your reaction to this opinion.

Answer: In the “Yeshiva” website, I saw a response by Rabbi Dov Lior about using a loudspeaker system for the Pesach Seder, etc. His response centered on the question of mar’it ayin, in that not everybody would be able to tell “if the system was operated on a principle of gramma or not,” as he put it.

I would note as follows:

(1) The Zomet system of using a loudspeaker on Shabbat is not related at all to the principle of gramma (indirect action). Rather, it is based on the concept of “modifying an existing current.” This is similar to hearing aids, where all the rabbis – without any exception – allow the user to adjust the volume. It is not related to gramma at all. (See Minchat Shlomo volume 1, question 9; Shemirat Shabbat K’Hilchata chapter 34, chapter 28; Yavia Omer Volume 1, Orach Chaim 19.)

I find it hard to understand that everything in which the Zomet Institute is involved is discussed by others as being related to gramma. This is simply not so! Just as a Shabbat elevator does not operate on a principle of gramma, just as a hot water urn in a hotel is not related to gramma, just like the system of heating food in a hotel and the metal detectors in the Machpelah Cave – the principle of operation of the Shabbat amplifier has nothing at all to do with gramma!

(2) The amplification system for Shabbat was built according to a responsa of the late Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli, who was asked during his lifetime for a practical ruling and replied that this is permitted according to the application designed by the Zomet Institute. See Chavat Binyamin, Volume 1, chapter 26. (This first appeared in “Barka’i,” where the rabbi responded to those who disagreed with him and defended his position.)

(3) We published a comprehensive article about this subject in Techumin Volume 15, page 371. This includes detailed instructions that the Zomet Institute developed in the home of Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli, who then signed an approval in his own hand. He was later joined by other rabbis, whose letters were published in Techumin: Rabbi Chaim David Halevi, Rabbi Nachum Eliezer Rabinowitz, and the head of the London Rabbinical Court, Rabbi Pinchas Betzalael Toledano. Recently (this has not yet been widely publicized) the head of the rabbinical court in Beer Sheva, Rabbi Eliyahu Abargil, added his written approval of these conditions in a responsa to the Jews of France.

(4) There is not enough room here to go into the halachic details of the ruling permitting use of this equipment. For now, we note that it is impossible to fix the equipment on Shabbat (so that there is no fear that “one might repair it”), and all the parts are fixed in place and cannot be moved, including the microphone and the cables. The device is turned on and off by a locked timer, and the system includes additional electrical safety devices.

(5) With respect to the question of mar’it ayin – our response is to attach a large and prominent sign to the system. In some cases, the special nature of the system is also announced in separate signs, such as on the bulletin boards of synagogues and hotels.

(6) Dozens of such systems are currently installed in Israel and abroad. Outside Israel, the main application is in synagogues (Orthodox only). In Israel, they have been installed only in halls, hotels, old age homes, cultural centers, etc. Every installation has been approved by the local rabbi (sometimes with his knowledge, where the rabbi does not object to a declaration by the Zomet Institute that he has given tacit approval).

The Zomet Institute makes no attempt to influence others to accept our approach. “One who hears will hear, and one who desists will desist.” We will end this brief discussion with the words of Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli: “It seems to me that in this case the lenient opinion is to be preferred.”

Rabbi Yisrael Rozen