Q&A: Night Shift
Night Shift
Question
I have a hospital shift that falls on Yom Kippur, and also on Sukkot. Is it permitted to pay a Jew who does not observe Torah and commandments to go in my place on those holiday days, or not?
Answer
Is the work there permitted (because of saving a life, or because the acts are done in a permitted way for a sick person), or does it involve a prohibition? If it is permitted, then there is no problem with another Jew doing it instead of you (if he is paid, there is an issue of Sabbath wages, but that can be arranged as part of a broader payment package). If it is prohibited, then ostensibly it is forbidden to send someone else in your place. If he does not believe in the whole matter, in my opinion there is no prohibition in causing him to stumble.
Discussion on Answer
Thank you.
I don't think the labor is being done on my behalf. The main thing is that there be someone on shift (not specifically me). It doesn't matter whether it's me or someone else. It's just that my shift happens to be on a certain day, and so I want to send someone else to cover it. He's not doing it on my behalf; he's doing it so that patients will be treated.
That shift he is doing on your behalf (when you pay him for it)
Now I thought that when you pay him, the labor is being done on your behalf, and therefore it would seem forbidden even if he doesn't believe.