Jewish Vaccine Stories

We've been saying this a very long time. We need to live together and stop tearing apart from one another over health and medical choices. People are not wired the same. But we all live in the same world.  It's time we recognized that.  Good job, Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation!

  What if there is a vaccine preventable illness which has a known, very successful treatment? Are you allowed to risk getting the illness, knowing there is a treatment that will help you? What if there is a vaccine that may give you an illness for which there is no cure? Are you allowed to take the vaccine, risk getting the illness, which may ultimately end your life? In either case, what logical or halakhic argument allows someone else to make you take the vaccine? It would seem that שב ואל תעשה should rule the day. Do your best to not get sick. But if you get sick, seek a treatment that works. Putting yourself at risk with an experimental product that is not guaranteed to do much of anything has really no basis or precedent in Torah law and Torah living. You can put all your faith in a vaccine. But then your religion is VACCINISM - not Judaism.  You don't really believe in God. You believe in a pharmacological biologic. Look in the mirror. It's hard to accept this reality. B

 The late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has an essay entitled "Forgiveness" in his book "Covenant and Conversation." We at JewishVaccineStories know nothing of Rabbi Sacks' opinion on vaccination. But based on his comments here, one would think that he would not be in favor of the Sinas Chinum which the disagreement over vaccination engenders.  Referencing the passage in which Yosef (Joseph) denies any intent to seek vengeance against his brothers after their father's passing, Rabbi Sacks writes: ... the real significance of this passage goes far beyond the story of Joseph and his brothers. It is the essential prelude to the book of Exodus and the birth of Israel as a nation. The book of Genesis is, among other things, a set of variations on the theme of sibling rivalry: Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. The book begins with fratricide and ends with reconciliation. There is a clear pattern to the final scene of each of th

There is a rabbi in New York who is largely responsible for influencing rabbis around the world to hate Jews who do not vaccinate. He blames "frum yidden" for all the "preventable diseases" in the world. Nothing is more anti-Semitic than such a canard, but why get into semantics? He is responsible for these two gems. Lie: Someone who does not vaccinate is a loaded gun Why it's a lie: As every pro-2nd amendment person will tell you: a loaded gun is not the danger. The problem is who is behind the loaded gun. But, they say, "A loaded gun can accidentally fire at any time." Perhaps this is true. We at jewishvaccinestories are not familiar with people knowing what they're doing and being responsible having these kinds of accidents. But nevertheless, that is not the point. The reason it is a lie is because a loaded gun can be seen. People are aware of its potential power. Were it to be pulled out, the danger can be seen, isolated and taken out o

Congratulations to all the legislators of countries and instituters of rules in Yeshivas. For demonizing, labeling, mocking, and treating those who don't vaccinate like parasites, God has come along (unless this virus is lab-induced, which, if that is so, would just go to show that Mankind can sometimes do really stupid things in laboratories) to say, "You are a bunch of fools. You think you can mistreat my children who do not trust the safety of your unsafe products? I will give you something none of you know how to handle. So you can't blame 'anti-vaxxers,' as this one is on all of you." With heartfelt feelings of sorrow for those who have died and for family members who suffer, we here at jewishvaccinestories wish good health upon everyone, even those who hate us. May God have mercy on our world. And may those who want to blame humans for not buying into a captured industry (television, media, government, your doctor are all owned by Pharma) come to

I saw this awful headline, and only because I've been conditioned to think this way, my instinct said, "But was he vaccinated?" https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5608388,00.html Teen dies of injuries from lightning strike near Ashkelon Of course the answer is irrelevant. This is a tragedy, and it is very sad for the family and for a small nation which does its best to protect its citizens. In the end, the God-fearing person knows that people can lose their lives in all kinds of ways, least of which is the measles. This is not a judgment of anyone, nor of pretending to understand the ways of God. But it is questioning the clarity of those who KNOW that vaccines SAVE LIVES and who also KNOW that those who don't vaccinate are DANGEROUS to the VACCINATED. Having met many unvaccinated children, it is hard to tell which is most dangerous. (Answer: None of them. Some of them have better immunity than any vaccine could ever provide. Some are simply not si