Night Vision Goggles and Megillah Reading

Hi, I just returned from serving as a reservist in Gaza. I have a question that has been bothering me. On Purim, we were stationed in Khan Yunis and were under orders to maintain a total blackout at night. We wanted to read the Megillah and came up with the idea of using our night vision goggles. Through them, we could see the Megillah even in the pitch dark. However, when we radioed this idea to the army rabbi, the response was that reading the Megillah using night vision glasses is not acceptable. Can you explain why this is the case? If it's good enough to see enemies, why isn't it good enough for Megillah reading?

Thank you for your question.

Wow, what an interesting query about a halachic dilemma during battle! First, welcome back and may we merit the ultimate redemption as it is written in the book of Isaiah, (chapter 2,4.) “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning tools. Nations will no longer use the sword against each other or train for war."

Inorder to understand this halacha I would like to we will have to learn a piece of Tamud in Tractate Megillah (pages 17a -18a)

הקורא את המגילה למפרע - לא יצא. קראה על פה, קראה תרגום בכל לשון - לא יצא.

מנלן? - אמר רבא: אתיא זכירה זכירה, כתיב הכא והימים האלה נזכרים, וכתיב התם כתב זאת זכרון בספר, מה להלן בספר - אף כאן בספר

It is written in the Mishnah that a person who recites the Megillah by heart (not reading from a kosher Megillah) does not fulfill the mitzvah of reading the Megillah.

The Gemara explains in the name of Rava that this halacha is derived from the Parshah of Amalek, which Hashem commanded Moshe to write in a Sefer Torah. Then the story will be remembered by reading about it in a Sefer Torah. Just as the section about Amalek must be read from a Sefer Torah, so too must the Megillah be read from a kosher Megillah.

This halacha concerns the Ba’al Koreh who is reading the Megillah, however, the congregants who are listening can follow even from a non-kosher Megillah.

Now that we have learnt this Halacha it is time we analyze how the night vision goggles work as I understand the goggles being used by the Israeli army are a mix of “Active Illumination” and “Thermal imaging” which is then replayed onto a screen so really one is not seeing the live image but rather an interpreted image

Interestingly, there is an Israeli scientist named Dr. Gabbai Sarusi who is working on a special coating for a simple pair of glasses that will enhance night vision. Halachically, such a pair of glasses could be suitable for Megillah reading since they do not interpret the image, they merely help to illuminate your vision using this special coating.

Really this question touches on a more broader question of when there is a halacha to recite a blessing when seeing something. For example when optical glasses came out people were asking if one is able to wear them when reciting the blessing of Kiddush Levanah, since the Halacha is that one has to go out of the house and see the new moon and not even see it through the window so the question was is maybe wearing glasses considered like a window? However, since they help you see the moon they are not considered as a mechitzah like a window but rather as an aid and is considered part of your vision. (This is based on the Pischey Teshuvah Hilchot Chalitsah Siman 169 seder Chalitsah biktsoroh)

Same too one can ask that there is a Halacha to recite a blessing when seeing the sea after thirty days. If a person is far from the sea and using binoculars he can have a sharp vision of the sea one may argue that it should be ok since it is acting like glasses. However, Le’halacha one may not recite the blessing using binoculars since the Bracha when seeing the sea is only when one is physically close by and is inspired by the creation of Hashem only then can he recite the blessing of “Oseh Ma’she Bereshis”.

we see that the halachos regarding the use of different optics vary depending on the specific situation, so one cannot compare one halacha to another.

Wishing you well.

Tractate Megillah (pages 17a-18a

 Pischei Teshuvah, Hilchot Chalitzah, Siman 169