Listening To Tefillas HaDerech on A Loudspeaker
Even according to the opinions that hold that we apply the principle of shome’ah ke’onah to Tefillas HaDerech, many poskim hold that one doesn’t fulfill his obligation if he hears it over a loudspeaker, as the sound he hears is not the actual voice of the one reciting it (Shu”t Minchas Yitzchak, 3:38, s.k. 16, and Shu”t Minchas Shlomah 1:9, end of s.k. 1). However, some say since it’s not so clear, one doesn’t need to protest against those who are lenient (see at length Shu”t Madanay Yom Tov, 9:29). Practically, one should try and not rely on this. However, if only one person has the text of Tefillas HaDerech, he should say it slowly out loud on the loudspeaker, in order that everyone can recite it together with him, this way everyone will be able to say it, and it will have the advantage of a tefillas rabbim [public tefillah] like we mentioned above from the Taz.
