Questions regarding the Alzheimer's patient
meha...@aol.com
has increased rapidly. Many new halachic questions have arisen from
this phenomenom, which need to be discussed by the poskim of our time.
Here are a few which I think are of immediate concern.
1. A minyan includes several elderly people of visibly diminished
mental acuity, they are confused but still have some awareness that
they are in a synagogue and a tefilah is to be said. Can we include
these people in the count to make up a quorum of ten? How confused do
they have to be to be disqualified? Does it make a difference whether
they have been formally diagnosed with Alzheimers or just seem very
forgetful and confused?
2. A person who has early stage Alzheimers may be very forgetful but
not unaware of what is going on. He has eaten a meat meal a few minutes
ago, but has completely forgotten about it and asks you to make him a
cup of coffee and adds "Remember I like plenty of milk and sugar, the
regular milk not the low fat!" Can you oblige him and bring it to him
or is it "lifnei iveir." Does it make a difference if he has eaten beef
or chicken (chicken eaten together with milk is only a derabanon,
therefore avoiding dairy afterwards is an extra harchakah on a
derabanon)?
3. A patient with Alzheimers walked out of shul with his his tallis
beitel in his hand on a Shabbos morning, completely forgetting that it
is Shabbos. There is an Eruv in the area, but he is from a community
that does not accept the Eruv, now that I meet him in the street do I
have an obligation to remind him that it is Shabbos?
I will, bli neder post some of the relevant teshuvos etc. soon.
Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein
group moderator for medicalhalacha@googlegroups