Response to statements made by representative of Beis Din on Friday

B.H.

3 Adar, 5781

Dear fellow resident of Crown Heights, sheyichiyeh:

In light of a voice note sent out on Friday, 30 Shevat, 5781, from a member of the Crown Heights Beis Din, and having read the transcription of anash.org, I am morally and Halachically obliged to point out the following:

1) The rabbi made it very clear that a rabbi could not voice an opinion on the safety or effectiveness of the covid vaccine.

This is true.

If a rabbi uses his rabbinic position to push a medical agenda marketing a medical procedure or the administering of a medical substance, his position is to be disregarded, because, as pointed out, a rabbi is not knowledgeable about medical issues. This instruction surely raises serious questions about some rabbis, especially those in the Holy Land, who have issued such “rulings,” urging compliance to the government’s experimental mass-coercion of the new vaccine.

2) He said that people have recently been asking questions in reference to taking or not taking the vaccine, and indicated that he refuses to answer such questions, stating that these questions brought to him were “clearly… of non-halachic nature.”

Untrue.

There is clearly a profound Halachic issue in regards to this vaccine, more so than with any other vaccine in history. The rabbi must be aware that any medication or medical procedure can have side-effects. Surely he has noticed the small print on the box of Acetaminophen etc. Vinishmartem m’od linafshoseichem, protecting one’s life, is by all means a Halachic issue.

The vast majority of people are not at risk of losing their life to covid. There are also medications that have proven effective in treating covid, and do not have dangerous side-effects.

If so, there is a profound Halachic dilemma in permitting any individual to take this vaccine, one that has unprecedented doubts as to its safety.

Furthermore, even people who are not at all in a category of risk for covid are being urged to take this vaccine, which exacerbates the serious nature of the abovementioned Halachic hesitation exponentially:

Is it indicated, or even permitted, for a Jew to expose himself or herself to possible side-effects, in order to comply with a policy of “public health”, for the benefit of others? There have been numerous medical experts, both professional and academic, who stated concerns possible or even expected harm to fertility as well as other health issues. The rabbi surely must be aware of these experts’ studies and findings. A medical doctor cannot rule on this question, as a medical doctor does not have the knowledge of Halacha and the fear of G-d needed to pass judgement on this matter. ONLY a rabbi can. In fact, the Alter Rebbe himself rules differently in two different places in Shulchan Aruch (Choishen Mishpot Hilchos Nizkei Guf V’nefesh sif 7 and Orach Chaim siman 329 sif 8).

Even if an individual feels that he is at risk of dying from covid, and his fear mongering manages to “convince” him that the vaccine’s purpose is to protect his own life - there is another profound Halachic issue here. Every individual who takes the vaccine increases the pressure on the vast majority of others who are declining it. If the vaccine is NOT indicated for a person who is not at risk (which it isn’t) - this person who runs to take the vaccine is contributing to the mounting of pressure soon to be placed on the vast majority of others, for whom the vaccine is surely NOT indicated. This can have profound effects on the freedoms of all Americans, and most importantly, the freedoms of Amercian Jews to study Torah freely, without being coerced to vaccinate their children. The children are certainly not at risk from covid 19, and their vaccination, together with all the possible side-effects, would be purely for others, and it has been announced this is indeed the plan, Rachmona litzlan.3)

3) The rabbi stated: “I do see a major, major misconception about how we go about determining what’s the right path for us… The reason why there’s a lot of confusion is because we’re not going to the Torah to find out what the correct approach is, and we’ll come up with our own theories.”

True.

We do not need to come up with theories. However, when medical experts communicate their medical opinion, and their solemn warnings of frightening health concerns posed by this vaccine, we are obliged to take this opinion into consideration. And, yes, Halachically.

However, meeting someone who has arrived from Israel who has just taken the vaccine and complains of chronic weakness and suffers paralysis, or listening to a friend who communicates that he or she just got up from shiva after his or her father or mother died 22 minutes after taking the vaccine - is not “coming up with theories”. These are called first-hand observations, and no politician,  professional, or expert can deny such observations.

4) He stated: “Torah made it very clear that when it comes to inyonim of refuah – of medicine, it is not up for us to make our decisions - what we think is right. And it’s certainly not up for us to do research. We’re not qualified to do research…”

Untrue.

“Refuah” is not a dictatorship.

A doctor can suggest a treatment, and often there are differences of opinions, as in the very issue being addressed herein. Refuah is not a “one size fits all” proposition. It is incumbent upon each and every individual to be aware of the possible harm the vaccine presents, and weigh this harm against the questionable gain. One should not be a brainless zombie, as the rabbi seems to be indicating. Such behavior has proven to be a most unadvised one in reference to one’s health and wellbeing, as every doctor can attest. An educated patient is the ideal patient.

And as mentioned in my response to item #3, hearing about the demise of a close friend, who suffered cardiac arrest within 48 hours of receiving the second dose of the covid vaccine, or the likes, is not called “research”, and no “qualifications” are needed in taking this instance into serious consideration.

5) He stated that “when it comes to the words of a professional - ‘uman lo mareih umonaso’ – we have a klal that a professional is reliable and credible when it comes to his profession. A professional has a very high standard of belief. And when it comes to doctors – doctors’ words are to be trusted. We put aside Shabbos, we put aside Yom Kippur when it comes to a matter of pikuach nefesh. And how do we determine if it’s pikuach nefesh or not – very often based on what doctors are saying. And the definition of a doctor is a doctor who’s a mumcheh, who’s a professional.”

True.

Credence is given to experts in their fields. However, the outspoken and self-appointed spokesman of the “Gedalia Society” who is pushing the vaccine is NOT an expert in the field of this new covid vaccine, nor is he an expert in treating covid altogether, and his opinion can therefore be disregarded. Thank G-d, there are medical experts who have treated covid with a degree of success, whose opinions, as such, carry weight. One of them is Dr. Zev Zelenko MD, who is also a Lubavitcher Chasid, and certainly a rofeh mumcheh and rofeh yedid. He has stated vehemently his medical and professional opinion, that it is NOT indicated to take this new covid vaccine, for any person, for any age.

The reliability of a professional is granted to a doctor whose profession is to keep his patients alive, and can be sued for malpractice. However, the companies that produce and market this vaccine is NOT granted this reliability, since it is not legally culpable for an injury related to its products, as per legislation passed twenty five years ago (Childhood Vaccine Act of 1986). Likewise, medical professionals who represent governmental agencies are also not necessarily in the category of a professional to whom this reliability can be applied. Governmental agencies can have motives other than preserving life - motives can include popular opinion, fear frenzy of the masses, or usurping governmental control, as Lubavitch knows too well from its experience with the former Soviet Union and its “policies”.

Furthermore, professional reliability is not always applied in every case, and a Halachic authority is needed to determine when it can or can not be applied. See Yoreh Deah siman 154 sif 1, for an example of when it does not apply.

6) He stated: “The poskim say, going back to the Beis Lechem Yehuda, and many other poskim, that doctors should be doctors that are licensed by the government because the government has a licensing system of which doctors are quacky doctors and which doctors are real.”

Untrue.

There is no basis in poskim for this statement. The Beis Lechem Yehuda doesn’t mention the word “government” altogether. The Aruch Hashulchan mentions that healers who are not licensed by the government who opine that a patient is fit to fast on Yom Kippur should be disregarded. However, he concludes that if such healers opine the contrary, that the patient’s life can be endangered by fasting, then “chosh’shin lidvarav” - the patient should eat, since sofeik nifoshois lihokeil. There is no question that if a perfectly healthy individual is presented with a vaccine, in reference to which medical professionals, not just “quacky” healers, have indicated extremely troubling health risks, even a chashash sakonas nifoshois, then the opinion is to be taken into consideration, regardless of governmental licensing. And in this case, hundreds of medical experts with all the accolades and governmental licensing, have weighed in on the matter - and their opinions are frightening. 

7) He suggested: “The Torah not asking us to go onto WhatsApp groups and listen to every single rumor and shmuah that you hear out there… It is not your job to go and do research. It actually indicates a lack of bitachon when you start worrying about this and worrying about that and Googling it and looking it up and looking at Wikipedia to see what someone else wrote...”

True.

But the rabbi should have added, MOST importantly, listening to the media with its liberal bias, and sadly, the government sponsored media and agencies, who also have this bias. And most of all, the so-called Lubavitch news websites, like collive, anash.org, or chabad.info (and recently, even chabad.org), all of whom have shown to have a bias. Their “news” and obvious slant attesting to their support of this untested covid vaccine, as such, should be considered inconsequential. 

And, as mentioned in items #3 and #4, speaking to a loved one of someone who has died shortly after taking the vaccine or has been injured by the vaccine, or meeting the injured himself - does NOT indicate a “lack of bitachon”. On the contrary, it indicates the epitome of bitachon, taking your health decisions seriously, and not blindly following the so-called Lubavitch websites, facebook, or google, who wish to cover up such injuries and tragedies. 

8) He said: “When a person has a question of refuah, he’s supposed to approach a doctor. The same doctor, that a person would go to for any other area, the doctor that you would trust chas v’shalom for heart conditions or for yene machla or for whatever it is. That same type of doctor is the one you should be going to asking the particular question that’s affecting you and us right now.”

Untrue.

If the doctor isn’t knowledgeable as to the dangers or safety of the vaccine - an entirely newfangled technology, the likes of which the doctor is likely to never have become acquainted, even slightly - then go find a real expert. Unfortunately, at the present, doctors in Crown Heights are not experienced enough in this field to be able to pass judgement.

9) He said: “One should practice what the doctors are saying, or what rov – majority of mainstream doctors are saying, which is the attitude of Torah.”

Untrue.

One does not follow a “majority of mainstream doctors” when the matter involves sakonas nishois. In fact, the Alter Rebbe paskens in siman 618 that we follow the minority: If even two doctors opine that a person’s life is in danger, even if a thousand disagree, we follow the two. In this case, it’s not just two, but hundreds of medical doctors have communicated their opinions that the vaccine may cause the loss of life. And sadly, this prognosis has indeed come to pass in the Jewish community, Rachmana litzlan.

10) He stated, parenthetically: ”The controversy regarding vaccinations and the potential sakana of vaccinations has been addressed hundreds of years ago by the poskim - the Zera Emes, the Tiferes Yisroel, and so on and so forth…”

True.

But these poskim discuss vaccinations that protect the recipient from catching a disease that threatens the life of the recipient, not to protect the public or vulnerable others. This newfangled concept has never been discussed in poskim.

11) He stated: “The primitive methods of research or vaccines that they had in those days, were not as advanced as we have today.”

True.

But the new vaccine is a brand new concept, and in fact is not even a vaccine altogether, as experts have pointed out. Considering that this is a brand new frontier, and even experts are uncertain the reaction that might take place in a recipient’s bodily function, especially long-term effects - the research done thus far is sadly lacking.

12) His bottom line: “It is incumbent upon people to go listen to doctors.”

True.

As mentioned above. This bottom line is of essence to each and every one of us.

As such -

Please join us tonight, Tuesday night at 7pm, as we will “go listen to doctors” of the highest caliber, who will discuss the safety of this new vaccine.

Go to HealthyCrownHeights.blogspot.com for a Zoom link.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Daniel Green,

Crown Heights