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example, there will not be enough money for food for the fore it is a good idea for you to learn a profession that can support you
other patients if the money is used for diapers that are not even when your eyes will no longer see so well. If he is a Torah scholar,
in the budget. one should advise him to learn some tractates of the Talmud by heart
What would happen if this elderly man’s condition so that he should not have to strain his eyes.
deteriorated to the point that he required hospitalization, One should encourage him and say that Hashem empowers a per-
and he would refuse to go to the hospital? What if he son with new abilities to supplement the weak eyes. Many great Torah
would demand that they treat him in the old-age home scholars led the nation of Israel with their wisdom and discernment
with IV’s, a respirator, and the like? Is this also legitimate, and were called “the eyes of the congregation” without having eyes
because it is more pleasant and easier for the old man, or that could see.
does the institution have the right to define its own scope
of activity? When the institution was set up, I assume 1 SuMMaRy and Conclusions
there were some clear limitations delineated. It is neither
a hospital nor a nursing home. Does a worker or patient 1. One should put off telling the parents that their baby is blind
who knew these limitations in advance have the right to for as long as possible. It is a mitzvah to encourage the parents
change them? so that they develop a bond with their children, making it easier,
Comparable problems can occur in intensive care afterwards, for them to accept the Divine decree with love. Spe-
units, when a patient needs to be transferred to another cifically, one should not impart bad news to a woman for seven
department. For example, if a patient had a heart-attack, days after she has given birth. So, too, one should withhold bad
after two or three days (depending on the institution, the news until after the Shabbos or the Yom Tov.
patient, and the timing) he is transferred to a regular ward. 2. If one has to impart bad news, one should do so by hinting to it,
It is more comfortable and feels safer for the patient to stay and gradually.
in intensive care than to “be thrown out” to an open ward
with less intensive treatment, an unfamiliar staff etc. Some 3. A man who will definitely go blind should be told so as if it is
patients refuse to be transferred. The same thing happens only a possibility. He should be lead towards acquiring a pro-
regarding discharges from the hospital. We sometimes fession that is suitable for blind people, and learning parts of
have patients who prefer to stay. In truth, it would be pref- Torah orally. One should also speak to his heart and tell him
erable for them to remain in the hospital for longer, but that many of the great Torah scholars were blind but neverthe-
this prevents other patients from receiving the care that less, they were called “the eyes of the congregation.”
these outgoing patients demanded and received only a few
days earlier.
Any outstanding benefit to one patient comes at the
expense of another patient, being that resources are al-
ways limited. Does a worker employed in an institution
(whether a hospital or a yeshivah) have the right to change
the policy of the institution? For example, can a teacher
142 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Parents Gave Birth to a Blind Child 2 119
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