Question:
This is not related to any personal circumstance but was asked of me by a non-Jewish friend who was curious.
If you have a family member in hospital who is very likely to die within the next few hours, can you break Shabbat to visit them for a final goodbye?
Answer:
Hello,
If it is needed for the benefit of the sick person and it will elongate his life, or if he will be upset that he can’t see his relative, then it would be permitted. The reason is because we may only desecrate the Shabbos in order to save or elongate a person’s life. If it will not help the sick person in any way, (he is unconscious), and the only benefit here is the emotional need of the relative, that is not enough reason to desecrate that holy Shabbos. To explain, if the only way to visit the family member would involve an astronomical cost of $500k dollars, which would mean to take loans from the bank etc., would the relative do it? I would assume not, and that the emotional need is not worth that tremendous price. Or another example, would a married woman sell her wedding band in order to visit the relative to say goodbye? I assume not. The Shabbos is considered the wedding ring that was given to the Jews, to show their “marriage” and the special relationship that we have with Hashem. We will only violate the Shabbos if there is a life-threatening situation, but not for any other reason.
Best wishes
