The Halachic Definition of Illness for a Father Requiring Nursing Care
Question
Greetings.
We are in the process of bringing in a foreign worker to care for my revered father and teacher. I would like to clarify his halachic status.
His current condition:
A. He is unable to get out of bed by himself, and usually not out of a chair either.
B. Frequently he does not have control over his bodily functions, and from time to time his body becomes soiled—and he requires washing of the entire body.
C. He cannot dress himself, and must be dressed from beginning to end.
A. I would like to clarify whether he is defined as a choleh she’ein bo sakana—a sick person whose life is not in danger—such that it would be permitted to instruct a non-Jew to perform labor for him even with regard to Torah-prohibited labors, such as turning on the boiler to heat water for washing, turning on the light for arranging and dressing him, turning off the light for sleeping, and turning on the air conditioner to heat or cool the home.
B. He has an electric bed and chair, which adjust and are raised for the purpose of helping him get up from them.
At present we use them on weekdays, but on Shabbat we assist him in getting up manually.
Is it permitted to allow the non-Jew to use them on Shabbat as well?
C. Is it permitted for the non-Jew to take him in the elevator in regular weekday mode, for the purpose of going to the synagogue, on ordinary Shabbatot, or on the Yamim Nora’im and Simchat Torah?
With the blessing of “אַל תַּשְׁלִיכֵנוּ לְעֵת זִקְנָה” (“Do not cast us off in the time of old age”).
Answer
Greetings and blessings.
A. He is considered a choleh she’ein bo sakana—a sick person whose life is not in danger—for all the relevant laws.
B. It is permitted to allow the non-Jew to raise and lower it using the electrical mechanism, since it could be done manually; this is therefore an action for the non-Jew’s own benefit [to save effort].
C. It is permitted.
