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to stumble by desecrating Shabbos if he travels to the distant hospital #
because in the situation where he does not have a referral slip to the
closer hospital he must drive to the further one.
One can perhaps add to this the view of the Maharshag (Orach
Chaim, Vol. 2 #14), who explains the following: If a dangerously ill THERE IS A PRIVATE
HOSPITAL CLOSE BY,
patient needs a fig to eat, and even though there is a fig available, 108
someone goes and picks a new one from the tree, he has done wrong AND A PUBLIC HOSPITAL
and transgressed a prohibition on Shabbos. On the other hand, once FURTHER AWAY. WHERE
he has done it, it is not considered a violation of a Torah prohibition SHOULD A PERSON GO
ON SHABBOS?
since, he ultimately did the forbidden act for the sake of a dangerously
ill patient. Therefore, he is not liable for this prohibition. According to
this explanation, it follows that even if the driver travels to the distant
hospital, he did not violate a Torah prohibition, since the act of driv-
ing was done in order to save a life. The halacha, however, is to save the
person’s life using the least stringent form of prohibition first. If it is 1 Questions 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Magenta
possible to save the patient’s life by violating a less serious prohibition, #20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Yellow 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-- | Black 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 11 - B | 18-08-20 | 13:46:25 | SR:-
it is forbidden to violate a serious prohibition. Some poskim rule that In my position as a physician in a military clinic I came across a prac-
this halacha is only Rabbinic and not from the Torah, as explained in tical halachic question that I wish to present to the Rav:
Kiryas Sefer (Hilchos Ma’achalos Assuros 14, and in Sefer Kol Sofer). It If a soldier is sick and needs to be referred to the emergency room,
is possible that a physician, who is involved in kindness (chesed), is he is sent to the hospital in a fully equipped vehicle, with the medical
exempt from paying expenses in order to prevent this transgression. referral form. The army has agreements with a number of hospitals
[My father-in-law, Rav Y. S. Elyashiv disagrees with the Maharshag. If in Israel (called “integrated hospitals”), such that the referral form is
there is medication available in the house, he explains, and one travels also considered the financial commitment. If the patient is sent to a
by car to bring the same medication from another place, this is not an non-integrated hospital, the army is obligated to pay a higher price.
act of saving a life but a simple outing.] This matter requires further Since I am located close to Rechovot, the closest integrated hospital
study. is Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tzerifin. However, Kaplan Hospital is
This applies if the road to the distant hospital does not pass the closer.
close hospital. If the driver will pass right by the closer hospital on his On Shabbos, transfer to Tzerifin requires additional desecration of
way, then drving on towards the more distant hospital is completely Shabbos by the ambulance driver or the patient himself. My questions
superfluous. The driver is not permitted to continue driving unless are:
the physician did not give him a referral to the closer hospital, as ex-
plained above. And if the closer hospital will admit the patient even 1. Am I obligated to send the patient to Kaplan Hospital in order
without a referral, then there is no allowance for sending the patient to prevent additional Shabbos desecration?
to the distant hospital. 2. Am I obligated to pay for the financial damage I caused the
Let us summarise our response to the military physician: military?

324 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Where should a person go on Shabbos? 2 321