Silently Learning Torah in the Bath or Shower

It is clear that one may not speak words of Torah while he is unclothed. However, we saw in an earlier installment that Hacham Ovadia Yosef permitted silently thinking words of Torah while unclothed, because Halacha follows the opinion that thinking is not equivalent to speaking. Hacham Ovadia goes even further, allowing one to think about Torah matters while bathing. Halacha explicitly forbids thinking about Torah matters in unclean places – such as a restroom or a bathhouse. However, Hacham Ovadia maintains that a private bathing room in one's home, which is generally kept clean, differs from a public bathhouse (such as a Mikveh) in this regard. Therefore, if one has a separate room for bathing, which is not in the same room as the toilet, it is not considered an "unclean place" like a public bathhouse, and thus one may think Torah matters there while showering or taking a bath. This applies even if the bathing room is adjacent to the restroom and one can see the toilet from the bath. As long as one bathes in a separate room from the restroom, he may think Torah matters. Hacham Ovadia extends this ruling to listening to recorded Torah classes. Although there is a general Halachic principle of "Shome'a Ke'oneh" – that listening to somebody recite words is akin to saying those words – Hacham Ovadia explains that this does not apply to an electronic reproduction of somebody's voice. This yields a stringency in that one may not fulfill the obligation of Megilla reading on Purim, for example, by listening to a recording of somebody reading the Megilla (even a livestream) because listening to a recording is not akin to saying the words. In the case of a person bathing, this yields a leniency – that he is permitted to listen to a recording of a Torah lecture, because he is not considered to be saying the words he hears. We emphasize once again that this applies only if the room with the bath or shower is not also used as a restroom. Furthermore, this applies only to a recording or livestream of a Torah class. If one is bathing near a place where a Torah class is taking class, he may not listen to the Rabbi talking as he bathes. Summary: It is permissible to silently think Torah matters while unclothed, and this is allowed even while one bathes in his private bath or shower at home (as opposed to a public bathhouse, such as a Mikveh where this is forbidden), as long as the room where he bathes does not also have a toilet. One may even listen to a recorded Torah lecture while bathing if the room does not have a toilet.