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The Rebbe’s determination to save his friend found favor in the
captain’s eyes and he decided to release both of them without dese-
cration of Shabbos.
(The Grand Rebbe was probably permitted to sign with his left
hand and with just scribbling because this has no substance or valid- THE DISTRIBUTION OF
ity.) SHIFTS ON SHABBOS
AND YOM TOV, AND
A similar story happened to the Gaon Rav Shaul Barzam, zt”l, 110
(son-in-law of the Kehillos Yaakov) who took a patient to the hospital RESERVING AN
on Shabbos, and the registrar asked that they tell him in which health APPOINTMENT FOR
clinic the patient is a member and other information that is not ur- DIALYSIS ON CHOL
gent to be written on Shabbos. The patient refused to inform the clerk, HAMOED
and the clerk refused to let him in to the emergency room. The Gaon,
Rav Shaul, said: I am willing to write this information. Although it
is not permitted for the clerk to write it, since for him this is not
pikuach nefesh and he can write it down after Shabbos, I see the patient
standing before me and being refused entry, so for me this is pikuach 1
nefesh and I am permitted to write. Questions Shifts on Shabbos and YoM Tov, Dialysis on Chol HaMoed
My brother-in-law, Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita, added: Although I have a question which relates to my work in a Nephrology Institute.
the clerk will be judged in Heaven for requiring the savior to desecrate We have patients who are being treated using an artificial kidney
Shabbos, he will not be punished for Shabbos desecration because the [dialyser]. This dialysis treatment is usually provided in a hospital,
savior was required to write. three times a week, over a four-hour period each time. The treatment
is essential and is meant to help the patients with advanced kidney
disease to remain alive. Cessation or interruption of dialysis is liable
to endanger the life of the patient, immediately or at a later stage. In
general, the treatment is administered on weekdays. If a holiday oc-
curs during the week, the treatment has to be given and the patients
must return to the hospital on the day of the Festival (Yom Tov) to
receive the dialysis treatment.
Before the holidays, patients who are Torah observant ask me to
assign them to a different shift, so that they do not have to desecrate
Yom Tov by traveling to the hospital. If I accommodate their request,
this will often result in another Jewish patient who is not Torah ob-
servant traveling to the hospital on Yom Tov to receive dialysis.
1. Am I allowed to interfere with the schedule for the sake of the
Torah observant patients, thereby causing other Jewish patients
310 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Shifts on Shabbos and Yom Tov, Dialysis on Chol Hamoed 2 335
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