#BringThemHomeNow

Aug 31, 2021

I'm sure we're still (perhaps even more) shocked by anti-vaxxers in our community. Here's the only response that truly represents THE Jewish position on vaccination.

I'm sure we're still (perhaps even more) shocked by anti-vaxxers in our community. Here's the only response that truly represents THE Jewish position on vaccination. I *never* say such things, cherishing Judaism's multi-vocality. But this is a different framework. Anti-vaxxers are rebelling against many things, including Jewish wisdom. Read this carefully, and if you choose to share it, please copy and paste the text I've excerpted below from the masterful (and fiery) piece by my friend, Rabbi David Glickman, to whom we all owe our thanks.

For the full article, click here: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-moral-lapse-of-bashing-synagogue-crowd-limits-in-a-pandemic

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"Getting a vaccine is one of the few things in the Jewish world that every single denomination agrees on. The Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly has unanimously passed a responsum requiring all Jews to get vaccinated. The Reform Movement has written similarly about this obligation. The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America have emphasized “the conclusion of our poskim (religious decisors) that, pursuant to the advice of your personal health care provider, the Torah obligation to preserve our lives and the lives of others requires us to vaccinate for COVID-19 as soon as a vaccine becomes available.”

Leading exemplars of Modern Orthodoxy have spoken loudly in favor of universal vaccination. Rabbi Asher Weiss, a world-wide authority on Jewish medical ethics, has been forceful on the subject. Though he stops short of saying vaccination falls into the legal category of “obligation,” he writes that “it is certainly appropriate for each person to be vaccinated” and views it as an embarrassment and shame that segments of the Jewish community remain unvaccinated.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, over 25 years before COVID, supported vaccines generally. Chabad in fact has sought to dissociate itself from rabbis who opposie COVID vaccination.

When Rabbi Michoel Green, a Chabad rabbi in Massachusetts, promoted anti-vaccine news, he was dismissed by Chabad. After the Chabad rabbi at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst promoted anti-vaccine beliefs, the national organization quickly distanced itself from him and promoted vaccination. At least one Chabad synagogue has opened its doors to become a vaccination site!"


For the full article, click here: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-moral-lapse-of-bashing-synagogue-crowd-limits-in-a-pandemic

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