Analog and Digital Hearing Aids on Shabbos

The Gedolei haPoskim debate the permissibility of using hearing aids on Shabbos, even if they were activated before Shabbos.^[1] Some prohibit both using these devices and speaking to a person who is wearing them since the sound of speech changes the electrical current in the device.^[2] However, many others permit it,^[3] arguing that the brief surge of electrical flow triggered by the noise lasts only a fraction of a second and is trivial. Additionally, speech does not create a new electrical circuit; it merely alters the intensity, which is not considered a Melacha.^[4] Some who permit their use also allow adjustment of the volume on Shabbos,^[5] while others prohibit it.^[6]

Use of Modern Devices

The rise of modern digital devices has raised new questions that were not relevant to earlier analog technology. Modern hearing aids incorporate various technologies designed to adapt the device’s operation to changing acoustic environments. The device may automatically increase or decrease volume based on ambient noise, focus on specific directions of sound (“beamforming”), and/or identify and filter background noise. Users can disable these automatic adjustments if they wish, giving them full control over the device.

According to haGaon R’ Asher Weiss Shlit”a,^[7] as long as these changes occur automatically, using these devices on Shabbos is permissible because these internal modifications are unnoticed by the user. However, if possible, it is preferable to disable all automatic responses before Shabbos so that the device functions solely as a sound amplifier, without noise filtering, directional focus, automatic volume adjustment, or synchronization between hearing aids.^[8]

The above discussion refers to automatic changes. If adjustments are made by pressing a button, there is debate about whether this is permissible in cases of great need, as discussed in footnote 5.

Taking the device on and off on Shabbos

One may take a hearing aid off or put it back on while it is still operational (such as before and after sleeping) on Shabbos; it is not Muktza. However, some modern hearing aids automatically turn off when removed from the ear. One must ensure that before Shabbos this function is disabled.

Additionally, some hearing aids have wireless synchronization between the earpieces, where separating them (sometimes by as little as 20 cm) breaks the connection and triggers a warning beep. When the earpieces are brought close again, the connection is reestablished, and the beep stops. It is advisable to disable the beeping function before Shabbos and to take care not to separate them too far when removing them.

Charging the Device / Replacing Batteries

Older hearing aids operated on replaceable batteries. Changing a battery is prohibited on Shabbos; in cases of great need, it may be done by a non-Jew. Modern hearing aids often use built-in, rechargeable batteries that last only for a short time and are charged nightly by connecting them to a charger plugged into an electrical outlet.

If possible, one should use hearing aids that can operate throughout Shabbos without needing to be recharged. For a two-day Yom Tov or when Yom Tov follows or precedes Shabbos, a battery lasting multiple days is needed.

In cases of great necessity, when a hearing-impaired person needs a device that must be charged on Shabbos or Yom Tov, haGaon R’ Asher Weiss ruled that due to the great distress of being unable to hear, one may charge the device in the following manner:

• Connect the charger to a timer that will turn the charger on at night and off in the morning.
• At night, place the hearing aids in the charger while it is off and remove them in the morning after the charger has already turned off. This way, inserting and removing the hearing aids does not directly turn them on or off or initiate or stop charging (as this will happen automatically when the timer activates or deactivates the charger).
• If possible, it is preferable to place the hearing aids in the charger with a Shinui.
• Additionally, some recommend beginning the charging process before the battery is completely drained, as recharging a fully depleted battery is more problematic.^[9]

It is important to note that some wireless chargers operate using an internal battery, allowing the hearing aids to be charged directly from the charger without it being plugged into an outlet.^[10] In that case, the above solution of using a timer does not work because inserting the hearing aids into the charger directly turns off the hearing aids and starts charging, and removing them stops charging and turns the hearing aids back on.

[1] Some Poskim consider a hearing-impaired individual a Choleh She’ein bo Sakana, meaning that the same leniencies granted to a bedridden patient should also apply to him vis-à-vis technology to allow him to hear. See Kuntrus Ya’ir Li Ozen (Shabbos p51 quoting R’ Menashe Klein zt”l who expresses this view in the name of the Shevet haLevi and see also p61 quoting a Teshuva of R’ Yehoshua Neuwirth zt”l).

The Tzitz Eliezer (6:6) questions whether a deaf person can be classified as a Choleh She’ein bo Sakana. However, he considers the need for a hearing-impaired person to use a hearing aid as a matter of Kavod haBri’os since he needs to interact with people and would feel ashamed if he couldn’t hear what is being said to him. This is sufficient basis to override Issurim d’Rabbanan. The Minchas Yitzchak (3:41) discusses both of these arguments. We heard similar reasoning from R’ Asher Weiss.

If a person forgot to activate his hearing aid or accidentally turned it off during Shabbos, may he ask a Nachri to switch it on? Some Poskim permit it – see the Chelkas Yaakov (2:41) and Tzitz Eliezer (ibid.). Some even permit a Jew to do it with a Shinui. R’ Yehoshua Neuwirth (ibid.) rules that if a hearing aid is turned off during Shabbos one should ideally ask a Nachri to turn it back on. If none are available, one may rely on R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s ruling (Minchas Shlomo, Tinyana 25), permitting a Jew to do it, me’Ikar haDin.

R’ Menashe Klein (ibid.) also permits activating the device with a Shinui if no non-Jew is available. He bases this on the Shulchan Aruch haRav (O.C. 328:19), who holds that even a Melacha d’Oraisa may be performed with a Shinui for a Choleh sheEin Bo Sakana.

However, R’ Nissim Karelitz (Chut Shani – Mezuza and Brachos, Kuntrus haChashmal, p778) rules that operating hearing aids is a Melacha d’Oraisa. Therefore, he does not permit activating them even for a Choleh She’ein bo Sakana – even with a Shinui – especially since performing this action with an actual Shinui is nearly impossible.

[2] Chazon Ish (as cited in Orchos Rabbenu, Kehilos Yaakov 1, Shabbos 6, in the name of R’ Chaim Kanievsky), Kehilos Yaakov (ibid.), R’ Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (Orchos Shabbos 3:26:23 and footnote 33; Hilchos Shabbos b’Shabbos 3, p241, footnote 36; Shevus Yitzchak 12, end of 11), Chut Shani (1–2, p205).

However, the Sefer Minchas Ish (Shabbos 2, p506) cites R’ Nosson Schulman as attesting that the Chazon Ish permitted the use of a hearing aid that was activated before Shabbos and that R’ Yitzchak Shapira (a Talmid of the Chazon Ish) issued the same ruling. He further writes that many attest to the fact that R’ Nissim Karelitz permitted the use of hearing aids in several cases, provided that their only function was amplifying the existing electrical current without any additional processes.

[3] Igros Moshe 4, O.C. 85; Minchas Shlomo, Kama 1:9:3:7; Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa 34:28, in the name of R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. R’ Shlomo Zalman is unsure what the Chazon Ish held regarding this matter. Yabia Omer O.C. 1:19:19; Minchas Yitzchak 2:18,112; Tzitz Eliezer 6:6; Minchas Asher 1:32 and 2:33; Menuchas Ahava 1:24:11.

[4] See Minchas Shlomo (ibid.) Additionally, M’orei Esh haShalem (2, p933 and onward) discusses the current models of hearing aids that contain a dynamic microphone that generates a continuous electrical current within its internal components. This differs from older devices that merely modify the intensity of an existing current. Nevertheless, he asserts that based on the reasoning of R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (as mentioned earlier), it can be inferred that even these modern hearing aids are permitted for use on Shabbos when needed for individuals who are hard of hearing.

See also the suggestion in the Kovetz Aspaklaria (a publication by the Scientific-Technological Institute for Halacha, Iyar 5780) that modern digital hearing aids may have an additional Kula. The electrical variations within digital devices are so minuscule that they are nearly imperceptible and can only be measured with highly sensitive laboratory instruments.

It is also worth noting that many Poskim permit the use of hearing aids, even while prohibiting other devices that employ similar technologies. See the Teshuva of R’ Asher Weiss (in Ozen Avdecha, p75), where he explains the reasoning behind this distinction.

[5] Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa (ibid.), citing R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (for the reason given above that adjusting an electrical current is not an Issur on Shabbos). However, Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchasa (3, Tikkunim u’Miluim 38, footnote 31), notes that according to R’ Shlomo Zalman this may be forbidden according to the Chazon Ish.

In R’ Yehoshua Neuwirth’s Teshuva (addressed to the Rabbanim of Mechon Shema Kolenu, published in Ya’ir Li Ozen – Shabbos), he clarifies that this applies even to digital hearing aids. One may adjust the volume and switch between different settings by pressing the buttons. Even though this causes new electrical circuits to be formed within the device, since the device is already functioning this is permissible.

[6] Minchas Ish, Shabbos, 2:36:98.

[7] Minchas Asher 2:33.

[8] The Machon haMada’i Technologi examined various hearing aids and granted an Ishur to those that, when set to a “fixed” mode, disable automatic program adjustments caused by transitioning between different environments and other factors.

Approved devices include two Shabbos-compatible programs:

1. The preferred program completely disables all dynamic responses, leaving the device to function solely as a sound amplifier.
2. An alternative program (for necessary cases, particularly children and the elderly) that disables most dynamic adjustments but retains noise filtering.

[9] See the Chayei Adam (44:19) and Mishnah Berura (338:15) regarding winding a spring-driven clock: If the clock has completely stopped, winding the spring involves an Issur d’Oraisa. However, if the clock is still running, one may rely on the opinion that winding it does not constitute an Issur d’Oraisa.

[10] As R’ Shai Simonovsky points out (Emunas Itecha 139), one can easily identify the type of charger by checking the following:

• Can it be used without being plugged into an electrical outlet?
• Does it have an indicator showing the charge level of the charger itself?
• Is it labeled as “to-go” (indicating it is designed for portable use)?