The Bronstein family was delighted to celebrate the wedding of their youngest daughter Rachel. Many plans were underway, especially even the Shabbos sheva brachos.
“Ema, I’d love to come with my active bunch of children to the Shabbos sheva brachos, but we are doing it in a hall, and I know Shloime is going to get into everything. I want to be able to relax on Shabbos. Do you think you can search for a babysitter for him, and the rest of the gang?” questioned Sarala, Rachel’s oldest married sister.
“Do you mean find a babysitter just for Shabbos? How is that possible?” Rachel’s older sister Leah was listening in and questioned how were they going to deal with paying her.
“Don’t worry,” said Ema. “There’s got to be a way to work it out.”
Question: Can the Bronstein family hire a babysitter for Shabbos?
Answers
Piskei Hilchos Shabbos (vol 3, 10:5) by HaRav E. E. Padawer teaches that if a babysitter watched kids on Shabbos and she will not be babysitting again on a weekday for that family, it is still permitted to pay her, but the money should be given to her as a gift, and the amount should be slightly higher then what she earned.
