Rav Dovid Feinstein and the Shabbos Hospital Discharge
A new mother faced discharge from hospital on Shabbos. Rav Dovid Feinstein told the couple to offer all their money to stay, to avoid even a rabbinic prohibition.
Rav Dovid, zt”l, ruled similarly regarding a rabbinic prohibition. A woman went into labor on the night of bedikas chometz before the commencement of a three-day yom tov. The insurance company was only willing to pay for three days of hospitalization. According to her insurance company, she should be discharged on Shabbos morning. The new mother did not mind staying until after Shabbos. The young couple asked Rav Dovid for guidance. He explained that taking a taxi on Shabbos that is driven by a gentile is a rabbinic prohibition. The couple should therefore offer the hospital all the money they have to allow the mother to stay in her room until after Shabbos. (Rav Dovid said that staying in the waiting room is not an option for a new mother and her child.) This fulfilled the words of the Chofetz Chaim that even when it comes to a rabbinical prohibition, a person must use all his money to escape violation. The couple offered full payment for the use of the room until after Shabbos. The nurse in charge responded, “What do you think this is? A hotel?” The mother was discharged on Shabbos morning. She used a taxi driven by a gentile to get home.