Participating in a Seder Via the Internet During The Coronavirus Pandemic Part I of II

Please note: Part II of this discussion is found here. In addition, see Rabbi Novak’s comments starting at about 10:45 of the video found here related to these responsa.

1. I hold with those who permit the use of electricity on Yom Tov as it is not really fire (esh mamash), hence not subject to the prohibition of initiating or extinguishing combustion on Yom Tov. (This permission does not extend to the use of electricity on Shabbat for reasons spelled out in my UTJ responsum on the use of electronic keys on Shabbat when necessary.) So, the electrically powered internet may be used to enable one to participate in a communal ceremony like the Pesach Seder, from which no Jews should be excluded when it is possible to include them. Everything should be done to maximize sociality on Yom Tov. See Nehemiah 8:10; Rambam, Hilkhot Yom Tov, 6.17, Raavad on Hilkhot Yom Tov, 1.6; also, Rambam, Moreh Nevukhim, 3.43.
2. However, there is the question of the rabbinic prohibition of “projecting a sound” (hashma`at kol) on both Shabbat and Yom Tov. Obviously, participants in this “virtual” Seder will be speaking and singing over the internet.
3. The question of voice projection is debated on Eruvin 104a: Ulla held that a person who knocked on a gate (to gain entrance to an estate) had violated Shabbat. Rashi explains Ulla’s reason: this person was violating the prohibition of nolad, i.e., creating (literally, “birthing”) something, even a sound, on Shabbat.
4. Ulla’s colleague Rabbah told him that the sound made by a musical instrument (kol shel shirah) is what is prohibited, but this is not what this person was actually doing. Almost all the mediaeval codifiers accept Rabbah’s opinion. However, on Yerushalmi Betsah 5.2/63a, Ulla’s teacher Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat states, “all sound projections are prohibited on Shabbat [and Yom Tov].” Ulla undoubtedly followed the opinion of his teacher (though this is not mentioned on Bavli Eruvin 104a). Alfasi (Eruvin/end) cites Rabbi Eleazar’s ruling, but dismisses it due to his having codified Rabbah’s more lenient ruling, stating that this is an example of where Bavli (i.e., in Alfasi’s conclusion) trumps Yerushalmi because Bavli is the later rabbinic source (halakhah ke-vatrai). That means the later source has fully, yet selectively, developed all the earlier sources further. (By the way, here is the locus classicus of this important halakhic principle.)
5. Rambam, Hilkhot Shabbat, 23.4 gives the reason for this rabbinic decree (gezerah): “lest one repair [shema metakken] a musical instrument [kli shir].” Of course, it could be said that one of the participants at either the real Seder or the virtual Seder might try to repair (as distinct from merely adjusting or controlling) the computer transmitting their voices if it malfunctions. That is a possibility so remote as to not warrant concern (see Eruvin 63a and parallels). Moreover, it is not the computer making the sounds, but the participants themselves. Although I don’t have the actual citations in hand, I do recall this kind of argument being employed to permit the use of a microphone to amplify voices of those leading synagogue services even on Shabbat, and on Yom Tov all the more so. (This has become, however, a cause celebre, with pietists making “frum” rather than halakhically cogent arguments against this “dangerous innovation,” going so far as to vehemently condemn anybody advocating as being “reformers.”)
6. Along these lines, Rema, Shulhan Arukh: Orah Hayyim, 338.1 opines that simply calling out to one fellow by making sounds with one’s voice is permitted even on Shabbat. R. Yechiel Michal Epstein, Arokh ha-Shulhan: Orah Hayyim, 338.5 opines that merely amplifying one’s voice doesn’t constitute a violation of Shabbat (or Yom Tov). He probably means using a megaphone.
7. The opinion presented in my responsum is meant to be statutory (halakhah le-ma`aseh), hence generally applicable. It is not only theoretical (halakhah), hence inapplicable; nor is it only for this particular case (ma`aseh), hence not generally applicable. See Baba Batra 130b.
8. I would add that those participating in the virtual Seder should be full participants, reciting kiddush, the various berakhot, and the essential part of the Haggadah (Mishnah Pesahim 10.5, viz., Rabban Gamliel’s three essentials). This will make them true participants rather than mere spectators. This will greatly enhance their Seder experience, for the human need for fellowship and participation in communal celebrations is as much a true human need as the need for food and drink (see Taanit 23a; Rambam on Mishnah Avot 1.6).
9. Finally, I have been very happy to learn that several leading Sephardic halakhists in Israel are permitting participation in a Seder over the internet during this most difficult year (and have been subjected to the criticism of some Ashkenazic halakhists). My hope is that at most, next year we will celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem; or at least under happier conditions than almost all of us face in this pandemic year.

Rabbi David Novak
6 Nisan 5780
31 March 2020