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...
Pouring Into a Sink With a Strainer on Shabbat
Paying a Doctor for Services Rendered on Shabbat; Renting a Hotel Room for Only Shabbat
Is a Wife Bound by Her Husband’s Early Acceptance of Shabbat?
At What Point in the Friday Night Prayer Service Does One Accept Shabbat?
Asking a Gentile to Turn On a Light for a Frightened Child, or To Turn On the Heat or Air Conditioning
Scheduling a Wakeup Call on Shabbat
Opening a Refrigerator Door on Shabbat if the Light Was Not Disengaged
Shabbat Candle Lighting – The Custom to Light Two Candles; Lighting When the Parents are Away for Shabbat
If the Person Who Recited Kiddush is Unable to Drink the Required Amount of Wine
Eating and Drinking Before Kiddush
Until When May a Woman Light Shabbat Candles on Friday Afternoon?
When is the Latest Time for Eating the “Se’uda Rebi’it” Meal on Mosa’eh Shabbat?
Shabbat – Using an Urn with a Water Level Indicator
Shabbat – Wearing a Garment That Causes Static Electricity
Leaving Water on an Open Lame Before Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found