Can a female be a caretaker for a non-Jewish male?

 

Question:

I’m thinking of becoming an HHA (home health aide) I was wondering if there’s a problem for a female to be taking care of a male?

And if I were to be placed in a non-Jewish home if there would be any problem with that?

 

Answer:

There are potential problems with a female being a caretaker of a male, primarily that physical contact is forbidden, and depending on the situation it may also pose a problem of yichud.

There would not be anything wrong to attend to a non-Jewish female, other being faced with the problem of not having a kosher kitchen there. If you don’t need to cook milk with meat it’s not an issue. You may not feed them limb or flesh removed from an animal that is still halachically considered alive even if the animal is now dead.

Just a few more points to point out:

• When working in a non-Jewish home and you would have to go out and buy food for them, it can pose a problem of מראית עין that a Jewish person is buying non-kosher food.
• Additionally, according to some authorities, a Jewish person may not have a profession which involves buying food for a non-Jewish person (even just being a go-between).

Therefore, you should not take a job which involves buying non-kosher food.

 

Sources:

ולהאכיל בב״ח – ראה שו״ת צי״א יז, לג בכעי״ז.

ראה דרכי תשובה קיז, נא שאיסור סחורה לא שייך בסרסור. אבל בסוף דבריו הביא משו”ת בית שלמה חלק א’ מיו”ד סי’ קלב בסוף התשובה שכ’ ממשמעות דברי הח”ס ביו”ד סי’ קד וק”ה דהיכא ששייך הטעם דלמא אתי למיכל מיניה אסור להיות גם שליח וסרסור לקנות לצורך גוי. ובנדו”ד ודאי שייך האי טעמא דדלמא אתי למיכל מיניה כפשוט.

 

 

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