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NEWS
Hospitals to Install Shabbos Doors
By Yechiel Sever
The Health Ministry issued an official announcement to hospital directors that it has earmarked special resources to install high-tech systems designed to solve the Shabbos problem of electronic doors currently in use at almost every hospital in the country. These doors, which open and close with the aid of a light sensor, have for years been a real obstacle for Shabbos observers, many of whom are unaware of the issue and commit transgressions unintentionally.
Following numerous requests by the public, Deputy Health Minister MK Rabbi Yaakov Litzman decided to seek a solution both for the sake of thousands of shomrei Shabbos compelled to spend Shabbos or Yom Tov at the hospital and to help keep the general public from violating Shabbos unnecessarily.
At the main entrances to most hospitals as well as the entrance to many wards are automatic electronic doors that are not permitted for use on Shabbos because it is considered like the person walking through the door opens and/or closes it. To date, the problem was partially solved through the use of an additional set of doors that open and close manually, but in some cases these doors have not been installed.
Now Rabbi Litzman has decided to allocate hundreds of thousands of shekels to install systems with a timer designed to leave electronic doors open during Shabbos.
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