An Israeli couple whom the High Court ruled Wednesday took the advice of a rabbi over that of a doctor is going to have to pay all expenses for care of their paralyzed child out of pocket.

The court ruled in favor of the Meuhedet Health Fund, which refused the couple when they sought care for the child, saying that doctors had informed them that the child would be born paralyzed – and that the couple decided not to terminate the wife’s pregnancy on advice of the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu z”tl.

According to the fund, a gynecologist who examined the woman told her on her first visit – very early in the pregnancy – that the child would be born with major health problems, and recommended she terminate the pregnancy. The couple then consulted with Rabbi Eliyahu, and decided to keep the child – who was born paralyzed, as diagnosed by the doctor.

The Health Fund refused to pay for care for the child, saying that it was not responsible because the parents did not take the advice of their doctor. The parents sued, claiming that the doctor had not sufficiently explained the dangers to the child, only the damage that could occur to the mother during her pregnancy.

A lower court ruled in favor of the parents, but the health fund appealed, and on Wednesday the High Court ruled in their favor. According to the court, it is unlikely that the doctor did not explain the dangers to the parents, and that they needed to be held responsible for rejecting the doctor’s advice.

It should have been clear to the parents, the court said, that “a rabbi, as great as he may be in Torah and halacha, is not a doctor and not an engineer. Anyone who seeks advice from rabbis in these areas needs to be aware that they are getting a non-professional opinion.”

“The rabbi, who passed away in 2010, is not to blame, but the parents who took his non-professional opinion over that of knowledgable doctor, are.”