QUESTION: If someone is in the hospital and cannot make Havdalah, should they listen to Havdalah on the phone?

ANSWER: Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l (Igeros Moshe OC 4:91:4; see also OC 2:108) was asked whether someone who was hospitalized and could not make Havdalah could listen to Havdalah by phone. He responded that for Torah obligations such as Birkas Hamazon, one should not rely on listening by phone, since it is questionable if a voice heard on the phone is considered an actual voice. However, regarding rabbinic obligations, such as Havdalah, if there is no other choice, one should listen to Havdalah by phone.

Most poskim (Minchas Shlomo 1:9, Be’er Moshe 3:166, Yechaveh Daas 3:54, Minchas Yitzchak 3:38, Tzitz Eliezer 8:11) disagree with Igeros Moshe. They do not consider the voice heard on the phone to be an actual voice and raise other concerns as well (such as unclean areas separating between the one reciting the beracha and the listener who is miles away). Therefore, they write that one cannot be yotzei Havdalah or any other obligation by phone. A suggestion is made to have the listener mouth the words of Havdalah word by word together with the one saying Havdalah. The listener should have his own cup of wine or juice. However, unless the listener drinks from the cup, the beracha of pri hagafen should be omitted. The same applies to the beracha on the candle and the spices. (see Sefer Piskei Teshuvos 296 n. 153).

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.