The shomrei Shabbos "motel" in the yard of Rechovot's Kaplan Hospital was dedicated four months ago at an impressive ceremony.
The pavilion serves as a hospitality house for those who have accompanied patients to the hospital and must remain in its vicinity on Shabbos. It also accommodates expectant mothers who have come to the hospital, and were subsequently released -- either on Shabbos or close to sunset -- and cannot return home. Since its opening, the pavilion has bustled with activity every Shabbos and Yom Tov.
The hospitality motel was founded by Ezras Cholim, which was granted an old, but spacious pavilion on the condition that it renovate, furnish and equip it at its own expense. The organization accepted the challenge, and invested $90,000 in the project. The building was rapidly transformed into a luxurious motel, which can accommodate 24 people.
Kupat Cholim and the hospital administration also displayed interest in the idea and helped the organization head, Reb Eliyahu Yeret, in his efforts. However, all this didn't suffice for the completion of the project.
When the previous Admor of Gur, the Pnei Menachem, was alive, he gave the chairman precise guidelines for administration of the motel. Among other things, he determined that the organization bring in "volunteer couples" to supervise the motel. The Admor even donated a sizable contribution to the motel, the first which it received for this purpose. This donation served as the basis for this house of chessed.
Volunteers to take turns supervising the motel both in ruchniyus and gashmiyus were located. Last Shabbos, the organization chairman and his wife spent Shabbos in the motel, hosting 17 guests. One of them was an avreich from Kiryat Malachi. On Shabbos, the avreich participated in the meal along with the other guests. After the Shabbos meal, he announced that his wife had given birth to a baby boy.
Ezras Cholim takes this possibility into consideration too, and in a matter of minutes, the table was once more set, and a sholom zochor was held for the happy father. . .
During the celebration, the question of whether a sholom zochor for a baby who is born on Shabbos after tzeis hakochovim should be held on that Shabbos or on the following one, the Shabbos of the bris arose. The chairman of the organization, the mohel, Reb Eliyahu Yeret told the guests that when the Rav of Teiplik was appointed to his position as rov of Yerushalayim, that was the first question he was asked. Without hesitation, he replied that the sholom zochor should be held on the first Shabbos. He then pointed to the source of the halocho. The response of the rav, quoted from a deliberation on a different issue, caused those who heard it to marvel at the breadth of his knowledge.
All those who attended the sholom zochor expressed their hopes that the hospitality motel serve only for simchas.
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