Q&A: Reading the Megillah Silently While Relying on "Hearing Is Like Responding"
Reading the Megillah Silently While Relying on "Hearing Is Like Responding"
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I usually follow along by reading the Megillah silently, without making a sound, while listening to the reader, so that I can fulfill my obligation through "hearing is like responding." In your opinion, is there any problem with doing both at once? Also, I’m not always 100% synchronized with the reader, so sometimes it comes out that while he is saying one word, I’m whispering a different word.
Best regards,
Answer
According to some halakhic decisors, there is no obligation to make it audible to one’s own ear except in the context of fulfilling an obligation. See even regarding a deaf person in the Mishnah Berurah, section 689, subsection 5. But even if there is an obligation to make it audible to one’s own ear, in my understanding there is no problem with saying it quietly and hearing it from the reader; however, you need to be synchronized, because otherwise you are not hearing it from him. I would only add that I do not understand why you are reading quietly along with the reader at all.
Discussion on Answer
In my opinion, it’s better to try to follow along without reading quietly. The Torah was not given to ministering angels, and if you did your best to follow along, that’s what you can do. Of course, you can read the entire Megillah yourself afterward and then fulfill your obligation out of concern that you may have missed something in the public reading. But I don’t think it’s necessary.
Sometimes I’m unsure whether I heard a word or not, and then I start wondering whether I should make it up quietly, and that indecision just adds an unnecessary headache, so I simply whisper the whole thing soundlessly together with the reader. It also helps me stay alert and not zone out during the reading. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to stay synchronized the whole time without there being one word where he moves a bit faster than you and you catch up to him.