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At what distance may one hear the shofar on Rosh Hashana?
Due to the pandemic, on Rosh Hashana1 some congregations will be blowing the shofar outdoors to mitigate the health risks. In an urban area, this means someone could stay safely far away and yet still hear it. How close does one have to be to fulfill the obligation to hear it? Close enough to hear the shofar itself? Close enough to hear the calls for each group of blasts? Close enough to hear the leader say the surrounding prayers (and we should prefer leaders with voices that carry more)? Or does one need to be physically part of the congregation as in counting people for a minyan (same "space", whatever that means outdoors, and a degree of visual connection)?
Does the answer depend on the reason for being physically distant (maybe there's a general rule but a pandemic changes things)?
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Second day, since we don't blow shofar on Shabbat. ↩
1 answer
Sources
All translations and emphases are my own.
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 589:9:
מי שתקע ונתכוין להוציא כל השומע תקיעתו ושמע השומע ונתכוין לצאת ידי חובתו אע"פ שאין התוקע מתכוין לפלוני זה ששמע תקיעתו ואינו יודעו יצא שהרי נתכוין להוציא לכל מי שישמענו לפיכך מי שהיה מהלך בדרך או יושב בתוך ביתו ושמע תקיעו' משליח צבור יצא אם נתכוין לצאת שהרי ש"ץ מתכוין להוציא את הרבים ידי חובתן:
One who blew [Shofar] and intended to allow anyone who heard his blowing to fulfill their obligations, and someone heard and intended to fulfill his obligation, even though the blower does not intend for this particular person who heard his blowing and does not know him, [the listener nevertheless] fulfills his obligation, because he intended to allow anyone who may hear him to fulfill their obligations. Therefore, one who was walking on the road or sitting in his house and heard Shofar blasts from the community delegate, he fulfills his obligation if he intended to do so, because the delegate intended to allow the public to fulfill their obligations.
Mishnah Berurah 589:19:
ובלבד שלא עמד רחוק מביהכ"נ כ"כ שאפשר שלא ישמע קול שופר רק קול הברה:
So long as he does not stand too far from the shul such that it's possible that he did not hear the sound of the Shofar, but rather the sound of its echo.1
Both the Mishnah Berurah and Shulchan Aruch's rulings are rooted in Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 3:7. Things to keep in mind when calculating the maximum distance include the types of buildings in the area (materials, height, density), the types of ambient noise (traffic, thunder), and the weather (humidity, temperature, and barometric pressure).
Summary: One may be however far he wants from the place the Shofar was blown, so long as he can still hear its unmodified sound.
On the Rabbinic Nature of the Second Day of Yom Tov
Blowing the Shofar is a Biblical commandment (Leviticus 23:23-25), and even though the second day of a holiday is Rabbinic, it's treated identically to the first day of the holiday for nearly everything (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 496:1).
With that in mind, I can't imagine that there is an opinion out there which would say that if one can't hear the blessings, which are Rabbinic in origin — and certainly if one can't hear the remaining accompanying passages, which are merely customary in origin! — that one would not fulfill his Biblical obligation.
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I should emphasize that I've translated the phrase קול הברה as an echo in accordance with Yachin on Mishnah Rosh Hashanah ad. loc. Other translations exist, including a noise muddied with interference (Tur, Orach Chayim 587, a definition which the Taz on Shulchan Aruch ad. loc. notes subtle variations in this definition in each Beis Yosef and Rosh's opinions), or a weak noise (Taz ad. loc. personally adopts this definition). Each of these definitions have their own practical differences, and one should of course ask his or her Rabbi before following in practice. ↩
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