Crown Heights and a Chidon
Two things are sad about this story (this happened at the beginning of April 2019).
1. The entire story
2. The fact that the writers can't put their name on it for fear of repercussions to their family and parnassah.
THIS IS THE PROBLEM. This is why this entire blog is anonymous too. Because for whatever reason, a reasonable discussion and debate is not available on the subject of vaccines.
We'll get to the assumptions made about the unvaccinated at a different time (though it's been addressed before)
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Dear Rabby Shimmy Weinbaum and Chidon leaders,
In regards to the International Sefer Hamitzvos Chidon taking place Thursday morning, and in light of the Wednesday morning announcement that no child will be allowed to join Chidon without proof of receiving the MMR vaccine, I’d like to make a few comments.
When we signed our children up for Chidon, no mention was made in any form about being vaccinated. That was not a requirement and the subject never even came up. Our boys studied and studied for months and months and suddenly on the day of arrival, they are told a new rule: you must be vaccinated. Besides for the tremendous anguish this has caused each and every finalist and their parents who were geared up for this from the constant hype coming from Chidon coordinators’ messages and encouragement, no mention was made of a refund for all the money put into this for the flights which will prove fruitless, for the Shabbaton which they are forbidden to participate in, and I won’t even mention all the other side expenses the whole thing entailed. Many parents even enlisted the help of paid tutors to push their children along.
Two weeks ago a kallah supposedly caught the measles (although she was vaccinated, so not all of us are sure why we are all being forced to do so when the very cause of this entire mess was a vaccinated person) and graced the halls of Oholei Torah. That is when, if you were truly worried, you would notify chidon contestants of the goings on. Not that I believe you should have eliminated the nonvaccinated children but if you were planning to do so, that would have been the proper time. We believe you are all smart and capable enough to have found another location for your operations. Banning those children the morning the boys are set to arrive is callous and unexpected. The response you gave us was, “We are so broken hearted to do this, but this is not in our control.”
Since you put all the “blame” on your community doctor, we took the chance of guessing and called Dr. Rosen.
I would like to share with you what happened when a couple of parents tried to reach Dr. Rosen. At first, the office kept putting us on hold. After many long minutes, one secretary got on and said, this decision has nothing to do with Dr. Rosen. Go call Chidon or the Health Department! So! We went ahead and called the Health Department. Dr. Benkel spoke to us and related that she just got off the phone with Dr. Rosen who had called her a few minutes earlier (Do you remember the wait time on hold with Dr. Rosen’s secretaries?) and tried to get her to back him for his decision to not allow unvaccinated children in the Oholei Torah building. Dr Benkel had told him, “No way! This is not another Rockland County! There is no medical need to ban those children! The measles infected the hall for two hours since the kallah left the hall and after two hours there is no need to ban unvaccinated people from entering.” Dr. Benkel then wanted to know where it was published that the Health department demanded something that in truth they had not.
We hope next time you choose wisely which doctor you will unquestioningly follow, one with integrity, common sense, and kindness.
Now, assuming you are of utmost concern for the safety of all your participants and that that is why you are banning the unvaccinated (because obviously the vaccinated are at risk!—that was who began this show!), I just wanted to point out to you that the unvaccinated children that have arrived, especially if they are not participating in Chidon trips and activities, will be all over Crown Heights, breathing, touching, and blowing their noses in 770, the library, the ice cream store, the pizza shop, and everything in between. Plus they will even enter the game show as part of the audience at Oholei Torah. So as for protecting anyone, forget it. Not allowing them on the trips can thus only be called discrimination against our children.
But the straw that breaks the camel’s back and proves to me beyond a doubt that this entire horrible saga is not about the safety of any children, but rather about the people entrusted to lead an educational organization promoting a political agenda, is this latest update.
Instead of only allowing children who had been vaccinated at least 3 weeks prior to this event, “We are now allowing any child who had been vaccinated… even if they are vaccinated today… they will be able to join…To those who canceled their travel plans… we sincerely apologize.” The facts are the protection (supposed protection) of a newly vaccinated person doesn’t take hold until two weeks after the shot, as is well known to anyone concerned about exposing dangerous germs to the vulnerable population. (I won’t talk here about shedding, which is the way a newly vaccinated person can actually spread the disease without catching it himself, as this is not an anti-vaccine letter, but an anti-cruel choices letter.)
Children who were never vaccinated and those who are freshly vaccinated are all equally susceptible.
This is not about anyone’s health or protection or safety but all about pushing the vaccine agenda. That is unacceptable for a rabbi and leader, especially the leader of a huge movement that is meant to inspire our future generation to adhere to our holy Torah in all its aspects, every day. Let’s leave politics out of our spiritual and religious quests. And as well, let us not actually damage our children’s chinuch and their yiddishkeit for the rest of their lives.
Sincerely,
Anonymous (Please don’t make us say our name as we can’t risk our jobs and the livelihood of our families)
1. The entire story
2. The fact that the writers can't put their name on it for fear of repercussions to their family and parnassah.
THIS IS THE PROBLEM. This is why this entire blog is anonymous too. Because for whatever reason, a reasonable discussion and debate is not available on the subject of vaccines.
We'll get to the assumptions made about the unvaccinated at a different time (though it's been addressed before)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Rabby Shimmy Weinbaum and Chidon leaders,
In regards to the International Sefer Hamitzvos Chidon taking place Thursday morning, and in light of the Wednesday morning announcement that no child will be allowed to join Chidon without proof of receiving the MMR vaccine, I’d like to make a few comments.
When we signed our children up for Chidon, no mention was made in any form about being vaccinated. That was not a requirement and the subject never even came up. Our boys studied and studied for months and months and suddenly on the day of arrival, they are told a new rule: you must be vaccinated. Besides for the tremendous anguish this has caused each and every finalist and their parents who were geared up for this from the constant hype coming from Chidon coordinators’ messages and encouragement, no mention was made of a refund for all the money put into this for the flights which will prove fruitless, for the Shabbaton which they are forbidden to participate in, and I won’t even mention all the other side expenses the whole thing entailed. Many parents even enlisted the help of paid tutors to push their children along.
Two weeks ago a kallah supposedly caught the measles (although she was vaccinated, so not all of us are sure why we are all being forced to do so when the very cause of this entire mess was a vaccinated person) and graced the halls of Oholei Torah. That is when, if you were truly worried, you would notify chidon contestants of the goings on. Not that I believe you should have eliminated the nonvaccinated children but if you were planning to do so, that would have been the proper time. We believe you are all smart and capable enough to have found another location for your operations. Banning those children the morning the boys are set to arrive is callous and unexpected. The response you gave us was, “We are so broken hearted to do this, but this is not in our control.”
Since you put all the “blame” on your community doctor, we took the chance of guessing and called Dr. Rosen.
I would like to share with you what happened when a couple of parents tried to reach Dr. Rosen. At first, the office kept putting us on hold. After many long minutes, one secretary got on and said, this decision has nothing to do with Dr. Rosen. Go call Chidon or the Health Department! So! We went ahead and called the Health Department. Dr. Benkel spoke to us and related that she just got off the phone with Dr. Rosen who had called her a few minutes earlier (Do you remember the wait time on hold with Dr. Rosen’s secretaries?) and tried to get her to back him for his decision to not allow unvaccinated children in the Oholei Torah building. Dr Benkel had told him, “No way! This is not another Rockland County! There is no medical need to ban those children! The measles infected the hall for two hours since the kallah left the hall and after two hours there is no need to ban unvaccinated people from entering.” Dr. Benkel then wanted to know where it was published that the Health department demanded something that in truth they had not.
We hope next time you choose wisely which doctor you will unquestioningly follow, one with integrity, common sense, and kindness.
Now, assuming you are of utmost concern for the safety of all your participants and that that is why you are banning the unvaccinated (because obviously the vaccinated are at risk!—that was who began this show!), I just wanted to point out to you that the unvaccinated children that have arrived, especially if they are not participating in Chidon trips and activities, will be all over Crown Heights, breathing, touching, and blowing their noses in 770, the library, the ice cream store, the pizza shop, and everything in between. Plus they will even enter the game show as part of the audience at Oholei Torah. So as for protecting anyone, forget it. Not allowing them on the trips can thus only be called discrimination against our children.
But the straw that breaks the camel’s back and proves to me beyond a doubt that this entire horrible saga is not about the safety of any children, but rather about the people entrusted to lead an educational organization promoting a political agenda, is this latest update.
Instead of only allowing children who had been vaccinated at least 3 weeks prior to this event, “We are now allowing any child who had been vaccinated… even if they are vaccinated today… they will be able to join…To those who canceled their travel plans… we sincerely apologize.” The facts are the protection (supposed protection) of a newly vaccinated person doesn’t take hold until two weeks after the shot, as is well known to anyone concerned about exposing dangerous germs to the vulnerable population. (I won’t talk here about shedding, which is the way a newly vaccinated person can actually spread the disease without catching it himself, as this is not an anti-vaccine letter, but an anti-cruel choices letter.)
Children who were never vaccinated and those who are freshly vaccinated are all equally susceptible.
This is not about anyone’s health or protection or safety but all about pushing the vaccine agenda. That is unacceptable for a rabbi and leader, especially the leader of a huge movement that is meant to inspire our future generation to adhere to our holy Torah in all its aspects, every day. Let’s leave politics out of our spiritual and religious quests. And as well, let us not actually damage our children’s chinuch and their yiddishkeit for the rest of their lives.
Sincerely,
Anonymous (Please don’t make us say our name as we can’t risk our jobs and the livelihood of our families)
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