Welcome to the daily Halacha (Jewish law). Can one pray Mincha, the afternoon prayer, or Arvit, the night prayer, on an iPhone? These days, a person has a siddur (prayer book) on his phone. So can he use his phone as a siddur to pray? Why is this even a question? Because Maran HaShulchan Aruch, in Siman Tzadi Aleph (section 91), in the laws of tefillah (prayer), writes that a person cannot hold things while praying if he is afraid that the object he is holding might fall. If you hold on to something while praying, you’re not going to be able to have kavanah. You’re not going to be able to concentrate on the fact that you’re talking to Hashem, that you’re reading the words of tefillah, because you’re always scared and nervous. Maybe the thing you’re holding while praying might fall or get damaged, so you lose focus on your prayer. So Maran HaShulchan Aruch writes that a person can’t hold items while he prays. For example, a person might hold a baby, a knife, or an important object because he’s scared it might fall.
When it comes to holding a siddur, interestingly enough, some say the reason Sephardim (Sephardic Jews) have a smaller siddur, except the siddur. If you notice, the Sephardim have a smaller-size siddur, and the Ashkenazim (Ashkenazi Jews) have a bigger one. Some say the reason the Sephardim have a smaller one is that a smaller siddur carries less weight, so it’s easier to hold while you pray and you don’t get distracted. But if you have a bigger siddur, which carries more weight and is heavier, you’re scared it might fall and you get distracted. That’s why some say Sephardim have a smaller siddur, so they can hold on to it while they pray the Amidah (standing prayer). However, there’s no full source for that. Hacham David Yosef brings that down in Halacha Berurah.
But let’s get back to the iPhones. A person holding his iPhone while he prays the Amidah might consider it very important because it’s expensive—even though it’s full of shtuyot (nonsense), it’s expensive. So if a person prays the Amidah while holding the phone, he’s always scared the phone. Therefore, he’s not going to concentrate properly on the Amidah. According to Maran HaShulchan Aruch, it follows that one should not pray from an iPhone, because a person could get distracted, scared that his phone might fall on the floor while he’s praying.
However, some rabbis say it’s fine. Why? Because these days, whether it’s unfortunate or fortunate, people are so used to holding their phones in their hands for so long that it becomes almost second nature. So a person won’t get distracted that the phone might fall while he’s praying the Amidah because he’s so used to holding it for such a long time. Why would he get distracted by the possibility that it might fall if he’s already used to holding it for such a long time? So while he’s praying the Amidah, you can use the phone because you’re not going to get distracted if it might fall.
However, there’s another reason why it might not be allowed, and that is called Hesech Hadaat. A person cannot get distracted. He cannot let things distract him while he’s praying the Amidah, while he’s praying. On the iPhone, many things can come up. You got a text message, you got a Gmail, you got this, you got that. A person who prays from a phone and looks directly at it is putting himself in a situation where he can very much get distracted. Halachically, you’re not allowed to put yourself in a situation where you might get distracted in the first place. A person who prays from a siddur on the phone might get very distracted by different things that pop up. You got a text message, you got a Gmail. Halachically, one should not be allowed to pray from a phone.
There are rabbis who say even that’s allowed because you can put the phone in a situation where nothing is going to come up. There is such a thing on the phone. So if you put it on a mode where nothing is going to come up while you pray, you know you’re not going to get distracted by anything that comes up on your phone screen. In such a situation, if you do that, then it’s allowed. Our rabbis tell us that a person could use the iPhone if he does that. So you follow the two conditions: you make sure nothing pops up, and you’re also one of those who is used to holding the phone.
However, if you have a siddur, a proper siddur right next to you, it is better to avoid using the phone. The reason is that our Hachamim (sages), our Gedolei HaDor (great sages of the generation), said a person should not bring an iPhone to the shul (synagogue), so much so that the Chief Rabbi, Hacham Yitzchak Yosef, put out a letter saying that a Chazan (cantor) who has an iPhone that’s not kosher (acceptable under Jewish law) should preferably not be Chazan in the first place. Rav Yitzchak Yosef put it out more than once, and it’s famous that he said that. And the Rabbi, Rabbi said a person should not bring an iPhone inside the Beit Midrash (study hall), even if you can use it for a siddur.
When are you allowed to use the iPhone for a siddur? If you’re on a plane or in a situation where you don’t have a regular printed book, a regular printed siddur, then you can use the iPhone if you follow those two rules. Make sure nothing pops up on your phone to distract you. And two, you’re one of those who isn’t scared your phone might fall in the first place. Only then is one allowed to use an iPhone for a siddur.
When it comes to Mar'it Ayin, Mar'it Ayin is that others are going to think that you’re using the phone not for a siddur. So that also might be an Aveirah, a sin. However, in our days, everybody knows that there are siddurim on the phone, so it’s not really Mar'it Ayin. Mar'it Ayin is only if it’s not known and people are going to be choshesh, people are going to accuse a person of not reading the siddur, but watching a video on the phone instead. Right? Why is that? Because everybody knows that there’s an option to use a siddur on the phone. So if everybody else is praying the Amidah and someone is talking to him about praying Mincha while he’s looking at his phone to pray Mincha, there’s no reason to assume the person isn’t praying Mincha. Therefore, there’s no Mar'it Ayin.