Shavuot @Home 5780 Does Halakhah (Jewish Law) Require Vaccination Against Dangerous Diseases Like Measles, Rubella, Polio and Covid-19?

Rabbi Stephen Weiss B’nai Jeshurun Congregation Pepper Pike, Ohio Based on of the same name by David Golinkin, 1/12/2021 *Does halakhah require vaccinations?

*How does Jewish law relate to those who endanger the lives of others by refusing to be vaccinated?

*May they be prevented from entering schools, or public places? It is a – a holy obligation found in the – to bring healing. יִכְו - ןֻביִרְי םיִשָׁנֲא -- הָכִּהְו - שׁיִא תֶא - וּהֵעֵר , ןֶבֶאְבּ וֹא ףֹרְגֶאְב ; א>ְו תוּמָי , לַפָנְו בָכְּשִׁמְל . םִא - םוּקָי Cֵלַּהְתִהְו ץוּחַבּ , לַע - וֹתְּנַעְשִׁמ -- הָקִּנְו הֶכַּמַּה : קַר וֹתְּבִשׁ ןֵתִּי , אֹפַּרְו אֵפַּרְי .

And if men contend, and one smite the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keep his bed; if he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. (Exodus 21:18-19)

לכו קמה י י ם שפנ תחא אכ י ל ו יק םי םלוע אלמ Whosoever preserves a life is as though he had kept alive the whole world. (Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 48) It is also a mitzvah – sacred obligation from the Torah, to watch over ourselves and keep ourselves healthy. םֶתְּרַמְשִׁנְו דֹאְמ , םֶכיֵתֹשְׁפַנְל :

Guard your souls (lives) exceedingly (Deuteronomy 4:15)

קַר רֶמָשִּׁה 9ְל שׁוּ ְ מ ֹ ר 9ְשְׁפַנ דֹאְמ

Only watch over yourself and guard your soul (life) (Deuteronomy 4:9)

That is to say, watch over your physical body (i.e., your health)… (Kli Yakar on Deuteronomy 4:9) Halakhic authorities agree we are obligated to follow the advice of our doctors and follow medical science.

Rabbi Alfred Cohen, editor of the orthodox halakhic journal, Journal of Halakhah in Contemporary Society. See “Vaccination in Jewish Law,” Spring 2010, pages 85-89

Rabbi , former Of , see his responsum in Yehaveh Da’at, 1:61 We are only obligated to follow our doctor’s advice if it is regarding proven medicine. Are vaccines “proven medicine?” Is the Covid-19 vaccine “proven medicine?”

Rabbi Yaakov Emden (leading German Rabbi 1697-1776): “Almost all doctors in the world instruct us to get vaccinated against measles and other infectious diseases because they are refuah bedukah – proven medicine – which saves the lives of millions of people around the world every year” (Mor Uketzia, Orah Hayyim 328) What if a vaccine like for Covid-19 does not yet have a long track record?

*Studies of Covid-19 are actually much longer and more rigorous than were studies of other vaccines such as smallpox, diphtheria, and polio.

*Those studies show that:

Covid vaccine is 94-95% effective vs.

Flu vaccine is only 40-45% effective Vaccines are proven medicine that saves lives! Smallpox vaccine invented in 1796 Before vaccine: 400,000 people per year died in Europe every year Today: Smallpox practically eradicated from the world Diphtheria vaccine invented in the 1920s Before vaccine: 5-10% mortality rate Today: <100 cases per year in the United States Polio vaccine invented in 1955 Before vaccine: 18,000 cases each year in the United States Today: 5-15 cases per year in the United States. Measles vaccine invented in 1960s Before vaccine: 500,000 cases per year in U.S., 6.6% of infected children died (33,000 per year) After the vaccine: 99% reduction in cases Those not vaccinated are 35 times more likely to contract measles Rubella vaccine invented 1969 In 1964-65 epidemic: 11,000 fetuses died in utero or miscarriage 20,000 born with blindness, heart disease, mental retardation Today: Disease has almost completely disappeared According to a 1992 medical report: *The Measles vaccine prevented 3.2 million deaths worldwide per year, *The Polio vaccine prevented 450,000 cases worldwide per year!

Source: Rabbi Joseph Prouser, “Compulsory Immunization in Jewish Day Schools.” a responsum accepted by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. Is the Covid-19 vaccine dangerous? A very small number die as a result of receiving a vaccine:

Whooping Cough (Pertussis) vaccine: 1 in 100,000 chance of encephalopathy 1 IN 300,000 irreversible neurological damage 1 in 30,000 chance unvaccinated will get Whooping Cough

Smallpox vaccine: 0.7 per 100,000 will die from vaccine 10 in 100,000 who take daily aspirin will die 10 in 100,000 who drive daily will die Regarding the extremely small percentage of cases where a vaccine causes serious danger:

"We do not take into consideration a tiny minority.” – Rabbi Hayim David Yosef Azulai (1724-1806) "We do not eliminate such a great benefit for the sake of such a tiny minority." -- Rabbi Avraham Nantzig (1785) If the chance of harm is 1 in one million, the million should annul concern over the one – Rabbi Herschel Schachter (b. 1941) Debunking the myth that vaccines cause Autism:

1998: Study published in the Lancet 12 doctors publish their claim that the Measles vaccine causes Autism

2005: 10 of the 12 physicians who had signed that study retract their support for the article. Lead 1998 researcher FALSIFIED results. Lead researcher lost his license as a physician as a result.

2010: The Lancet formally publishes a retraction, acknowledging original report was a lie. More than twenty studies (including one of over one million children) have been conducted and none found any link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

There is absolutely no evidence that this vaccine or any other is linked to autism. Does Jewish law permit requiring vaccines?

Jewish halakhic authorities have consistently held that:

* We are individually required to get ourselves vaccinated and * We are obligated to require others to get the vaccine as well.

Regarding Innoculation of varioli (variolation) (Different than vaccination: Placing infected pus under a healthy person’s skin to inoculate them):

*Avraham ben Shlomo Nantzig wrote in (1785) passionately supporting "variolation" or "inoculation.” Two of his children died of smallpox. He saw inoculation as a fulfillment of Deuteronomy 4:15 “and you shall guard your souls (lives) exceedingly.”

*Rabbi Yishmael Hacohen of Modena (1723-1811) justified the method of inoculation of varioli. Vaccines

*Rabbi Nachman of (1772-1810): “… they must set up paken [small pox vaccination] for every baby before a quarter of a year, because if not, he [the one who does not set up a vaccination for the baby] is like a shedder of blood, and even if they live far from the city, he must travel there, even when the cold is great, etc. (Reported by the Kuntress Hanhagot Yesharot). ------*Rabbi Eleazar Fleckeles (Prague, 1754-1826) quotes his son-in-law, Rabbi ltzak Spitz of Breznitz, who was asked by the community of Tashkin: if the non-Jewish doctor only comes to the city for one day on in order to give impfen (vaccine), is it permissible to bring the baby to him for vaccination on Shabbat?

Rabbi Spitz: Yes. Why? Though it is preferable to do the vaccine on a weekday, if it's only possible on Shabbat, then the parents must do the vaccination on Shabbat, and it's better not to assist the doctor, but, if necessary, this should not be an obstacle “lest he delay and the blood of his sons is on his head.” ------*Rabbi Mordechai Banet (Moravia, 1753-1829) supported the campaign of his father Dr. Jonas Jeiteles to vaccinate the Jews of Prague against smallpox. *Rabbi Yisrael Lifshitz (Danzig, 1782-1860) permitted the smallpox vaccine. He learns this from Mishna Yoma 8:7 which states that “if a person was buried under a house which collapsed on Shabbat or Yorn Kippur, if they found him alive, they dig him out of the ruins.”

Rabbi Lifshitz writes that the applies even if as a result of being dug out he will only live for a short time (chayei sha’ah).

He goes on to write:

"And from this it seems to me permissible to make a pox inoculation, even though one in a thousand dies from the inoculation, in any case, if he develops natural smallpox, the danger is nearer, and therefore he may place himself in a distant danger to save himself from imminent danger.“ An Interesting Case from the Annals of British and Jewish Legal History

1896: Henry Levy arrested in London for refusing to vaccinate his son Grounds: it was against his religion!

The Jewish prosecutor sought an opinion from British Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler.

Rabbi Adler: this man "was not justified in making the statements contained in the letter; that the most competent medical authorities were agreed as to the vaccination being a prophylactic against smallpox and added that its use was in perfect consonance with the letter and spirit of . (as reported in Yehi Or, London 1897) Okay, we should get vaccinated… but Can we Require/Mandate Others to Get Vaccinated?

Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman (1843-1921) ruled on a similar issue:

If a child needs an operation and at least 2/3 of the doctors in the city agree that the surgery is necessary… “then surely the opinion of the father and the mother does not make a difference, for it says in Yoreh Deah 336 that a doctor is obligated to heal, and if he prevents himself from healing, then he is shedding blood.

“And we have not found in the entire Torah that a father and mother have permission to endanger the lives of their children and prevent the doctor from healing them. This is the law of the Torah.” Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog, first Chief Rabbi of Israel (1888-1959)

“And I say that it depends upon the expert doctors. If they say that [the plague] may spread and the population must be inoculated by injections, even if this entails Biblically prohibited labor, if it was not done on Friday, it is permissible on Shabbat.” (Heichal Yitzhak, Orach Chaim 31). Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) (1910-2012) “Parents should accede to immunization despite their concerns.” --Immunization is the normal practice throughout the world, so we should follow I t --Failure to immunize amounts to negligence --Refusing to vaccinate a child because of unsubstantiated fears is irresponsible and violates Jewish law. --A legitimate government’s legislation regarding standards of medical conduct adds weight to their halakhic acceptability.

**If most of a school class is vaccinated, and there are individual children who are not vaccinated, and parents are afraid of this, the parents can demand that those individual’s parents act according to the majority and not turn into mazikim (destroyers who inflict damage). Rabbi , renown medical ethicist (1915-2006)

86% of all yeshivah students suffer from myopia and, as a result, a certain percentage go blind in one or both eyes.

Should we: require their parents to refer their children for supervision and treatment? require the institutions to refer all students for treatment? require the public institutions to help prevent the development of this disease?

Rabbi Waldenberg: YES to all three questions.

If he held this position for myopia, which is not life threatening, we can infer he would hold a similar position requiring vaccines since those cases involve threats to life. Rabbi Elliott Dorf (born 1943):

“It would be a violation of Jewish law ... for a Jew to refuse to be inoculated against a disease, at least where the inoculation has a proven track record of effectiveness. Jews, on the contrary, have a positive duty (a mitzvat aseh) to have themselves and their children inoculated against all diseases where that preventive measure is effective and available". (Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Medical Ethics, p. 253)

Rabbi Joseph Prouser (born 1960) in a responsum nearly unanimously accepted by the Committee of Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly: --parents must vaccinate their children against infectious diseases unless a specific child has a medical problem preventing it --failure to immunize children against vaccine-preventable disease is a serious compound violation of Jewish law; ---Jewish day schools must require vaccination of all children against infectious diseases unless it endangers the life of a specific child; and that unvaccinated children should be denied admission to Jewish day schools Does halakhah require vaccination against dangerous diseases such as measles, rubella, polio and Covid-19?

Teshuvah (responsum) by Rabbi David Golinkin, 1/12/2020 President of the Schechter Institutes of the Masorti (Conservative) movement in . https://schechter.edu/does-halakhah-require-vaccination/