Going to the hospital is always challenging for a rabbi. Although most hospitals have visiting hours there’s no guarantee that whoever you’re visiting will be in a “visiting mood” precisely during those hours.
I’ll sum up the challenge by paraphrasing Shakespeare: “To wait or not to wait? That is the question.”
What do I do after I’ve traveled over an hour to visit someone in aManhattanhospital only to find them sound asleep? If I just quietly leave the patient to his much-needed rest I run the risk of the patient feeling scorned by the rabbi who obviously took a quick peek into their room and just as quickly turned on his heels to leave. They’ll ultimately claim they weren’t really sleeping — haven’t slept a wink in fact since arriving at the hospital! This result is outright dangerous. To now paraphrase William Congreve “Gehinnom has no fury like that of a congregant who feels slighted by his rabbi!”
And if I choose to wait? This solution is also not ideal. How long is considered proper to wait? If I wait 15 minutes and then leave the patient will say “Oh I must’ve woken up the second after you left.”
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