I've been hearing multiple opinions as to what someone in quarantine for Coronavirus should do for Megillas Esther.
The RCA quotes Rav Hershel Schachter as saying:
“In a situation in which it is impossible to have an in person mikra megillah due to pikuach nefesh considerations caused by coronavirus, it is permissible to hear mikra megillah via a live phone call or video. We follow the rule that sha’as had-chak ke-di’eved dami; in a sha’as had-chak we allow le-chatchila what is usually only accepted bidi’eved. The beracha of ha-rav es rivainu however should not be made unless there is a minyan present where the megillah is actually being read.”
On the other hand, the Chief Rabbi, Rabbi David Lau said that there is no value having people hear the Megillah digitally.
Rabbi Lau stressed that it is not possible to keep the commandment of hearing the Megillah by listening to the live Megillah reading on a cell phone, on radio, or on television, because the mitzvah is to hear the voice of the person reading the scroll. He explained that “when it comes to telephone or radio and television broadcasts, the sound is converted into an electrical signal and then transformed back into a sound, and since this is not the original voice, one would not keep the mitzvah.”
Does anyone have any more sources that discuss this (preferably ones that explain the background and don't just give a ruling)? Are there any other possibilities that one can do that might be a better option?
