DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 682 KB)
Paying a Doctor for Services Rendered on Shabbat; Renting a Hotel Room for Only Shabbat

If a doctor is called to treat an ill patient on Shabbat, he is allowed after Shabbat to charge for his services. Generally speaking, it is forbidden to accept payment for work done on Shabbat. However, Halacha makes exceptions in this regard for services involving a Misva, such as in the cases of Hazanim and Rabbis who work only on Shabbat. This exception applies to medical services, as well, and thus a doctor may charge for treating a patient on Shabbat. This is the ruling of the Shiyureh Kenesset Ha’gedola and other authorities, as cited by Rabbi Moshe Halevi (Israel, 1961-2001) in his work Menuhat Ahaba (vol. 1, chapter 10; listen to audio recording for precise citation).

Is it permissible to rent a hotel room for only Shabbat?

When a person rents a hotel room for a several-day period which includes Shabbat, then this is clearly permissible because he pays one lump sum for the entire period, and he does not pay separately for Shabbat. This is akin to a person hired to perform a certain job all week, including Shabbat, who may certainly receive the full salary, because his payment for Shabbat is incorporated into the total sum, and he does not receive a separate payment for working on Shabbat. But may a person rent a hotel room only for Shabbat, given that he is paying specifically for services rendered on Shabbat?

The Menuhat Ahaba cites the Sitz Eliezer (Rav Eliezer Waldenberg, Jerusalem, 1915-2006) who rules (in vol. 7, Siman 28) that it is permissible to rent a hotel room for only Shabbat. The money paid to a hotel is for not only the use of the room, but also for the food which is offered to him as part of the arrangement. We may therefore consider the payment for use of the room as incorporated within the overall payment, which includes other services, such that no payment is made specifically for services rendered on Shabbat. (Of course, this assumes that food is indeed offered as part of the rental agreement.)

Summary: A doctor who is called to treat a patient on Shabbat may charge for his services after Shabbat. It is permissible to rent a hotel room for only Shabbat, and it goes without saying that one may rent a hotel room for a several-day period that includes Shabbat.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Rules Pertaining to a Husband and Wife Eating Together During the Period of Nidda
Some Laws Relevant Under the Chupa At The Wedding Ceremony
Sitting On The Bed or Couch During The Time of Nidah
Marrying The Daughter of A Kohen
Sephardim Only Should Make 2 Blessings, Not 7, When Making Sheva Berachot Outside The Groom’s House During The Week Following A Wedding
A Heker Is Required When A Husband Is Eating Alone With His Wife While She Is Needah
Is It Permissible For A Yisrael To Marry The Daughter of A Kohen
A Special Prayer for Ereb Rosh Hodesh Sivan
Yehi Shem on the 1st 13 Days of Sivan
Do Metal Peelers Require Tebila?
Is It Required To Dip An Oven Grate or Appliances Such As An Urn or In The Mikveh Kelim
If a Utensil That Had Not Undergone Immersion Became Mixed with Immersed Utensils
Do Plastic or Teflon Utensils Require Immersion in a Mikveh?
Is It Permissible To Allow Minors or Non-Jews To Dip Kelim In The Mikveh
Immersing a New Utensil in a Mikveh on Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found