Are We Allowed to get Vaccinated?
A Halachic Outlook and Yet Another Reason for Religious Exemption
The history of the halachic responsa regarding vaccination has evolved considerably since the question has originally come up.
Initially, the dispute surrounded the smallpox vaccination. At that time, the question was, “Is one even allowed to be vaccinated?” This hotly debated question was the main halachic question from the mid-eighteenth century until just a few years ago.
It’s only in the past couple of years that the shaila became if one is obligated to get vaccinated or is it only a reshus. Others got more emboldened to suggest a new angle to the question. “Are we required to force others to vaccinate?”
However, for some, they felt that the discussion still fell short. Indeed, in their mind it wasn’t even a question or up for debate. Instead, it was a declaration that one who is unvaccinated is to be deemed a rodef. Not understanding nuance, some liberally extended this and even called the unvaccinated; “Rotzchim”.
A wise Rabbi known to the author wrote this Magnum opus that addresses many of these questions and even more. Additionally, one can find here an excellent PowerPoint Presentation that highlights the absurdity of these flippant rabbinical rulings. (Both of these pieces were written pre-covid, but our Torah concepts never change).
Obviously, if no satisfactory answer has been found for the original question if one is even allowed to vaccinate, it’s inane to question if one is required to vaccinate, or any subsequent evolution of such a shaila.
The Shulchon Aruch’s View
The answer can be found explicitly in Shulchon Aruch
The fact of the matter is that there is no Halachic question here at all.
It’s not up for discussion. Not among laymen, not among Rabbis, and definitely not among “rabbis” who despise facts and their fellow yidden.
According to Shulchon Aruch an עכו"ם carries no נאמנות. Unambiguous. [1]
Doctors (שאינם יהודים) are not to be believed. Not if they are a minority, and not even if they are a majority.
The only caveat given, is that a doctor can be believed if his livelihood is at stake. If a doctor would deliberately lie, he would sabotage his very practice, so for his own sake we can assume he won’t lie in a matter pertaining to his profession.
However, a review of the current facts on the ground clearly indicate an alternative reality. Nearly every single medical board, including the Federation of State Medical Boards, have issued statements that any licensed medical professional who speaks against the official vaccine narrative or promotes other modalities (such as HCQ or Ivermectin) puts their medical license at peril. It’s not just theoretical. It’s being carried out daily. Here’s one such doctor that I heard about today.
That being the case, it becomes a perverse incentive. Sure, there are doctors that earnestly believe in vaccines. However, if a doctor harbors any doubts he will be sure not to manifest them, as this will cost him his livelihood and reputation. Therefore, the testimony of doctors even if they truly believe in the vaccine has no Halachic validity.
Furthermore, the Shach[2] writes, that where an alibi exists to blame a bad outcome on other factors, he likewise loses the trust granted to him through the mechanism of אומן לא מרע אומנתי'. The very fact that all events associated with vaccines are deemed incidental, whether true or not, disintegrates any vestige of נאמנות that could have persevered.
One may ask: what, however, remains of the frum doctors who do have a status quo נאמנות?
To this we must point out the obvious. Doctors whose sole expertise in the field of mRNA vaccines arise from their aptitude in quoting “official sources”, obviously can’t carry more weight than the sources they are quoting. One famous community pediatrician instructed his staff not to say that he recommends the vaccine, rather to say that the CDC recommends it.
Furthermore, the author is aware of multiple instances where privately the doctor is recommending against the vaccine, but publicly they are loath to admit it due to the disincentives noted above. This destroys any vestige of נאמנות that they may have.
It goes without saying that the CDC, FDA, NIH and WHO don’t have any נאמנות at all, because the Shulchon Aruch’s carve out of אומן לא מרע אומנתיה doesn’t apply to them. For two reasons. First, they are the ones who set the policies and are not the ones who are compelled to follow them. Most of them have never seen patients clinically, and the adverse events or deaths are easily marked off as coincidence[3]. Secondly, we have seen firsthand how many times those in these senior positions have been caught lying and they unabashedly never admit it. More astonishing is that even when proven lying beyond a doubt, there carries no consequences for their misdeeds. For these reasons, the Shulchon Aruch’s heter won’t apply because, simply put, there is no wrong that they could commit with their vaccine approvals and recommendations that would warrant censure or cost them their reputation.
Going to a Hospital
A further application of this law would extend to a much larger area of medicine. Various States around the country enacted legislation or Executive Orders to upend liability and grant immunity for health care workers while working during the pandemic. Further, providers were given waivers to practice even though their license was lacking. Based on the above, full immunity to malpractice obviously makes the entire hospital system lose its trustworthiness, and the enacted non-visitation rules compound this even more.
Being that there is no hospital system that is halachically permissible to rely on, living in these states constitutes an עיר שאין בו רופא. This precludes one from living in such an area or at the minimum, prohibits one to avail themselves of hospital systems while such ordinances are in place.
Case in Point
The following story that happened to me while writing this article underscores the truth of these words.
The Director of Somech called me and related me that he is having an issue with hospitals. People that are coming in for any reason are routinely given a covid test, and if they test positive, even with no symptoms, are prescribed with covid medication. He related about someone admitted with a broken leg that was put on remdesivir. Remdesivir is so toxic that trials done with it during the Ebola outbreak, which itself has a 50% death rate, needed to be halted. He asked me why are they doing it, and what can be done to stop it?
The answer is simple. Whereas in the past, Medicare only picked up the tab only after the first $30,000, but if they prescribe remdesivir, they get up to 65% back on the initial $30k as well. With visitation not in place to hold the checks and balances, the incentive is huge to treat every patient as a covid patient.
The question is, aside from the doctors that no longer have נאמנות, we must understand that these policy changes were made at the very top echelons of the government. Can we say that they retain their נאמנות as well? How about this story of a hospital denying a a kidney transplant of a dying patient “to keep him safe”?
While the science is far from settled, the Halacha remains quite clear.
Click here for an incredible letter written by a doctor who stands to lose his license for speaking against the mainstream narrative.
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[1] עי' שו"ע י"ד קנ"ה וברמ"א ועי' ש"ך שם ס"ק ג'
וע"ע בסימן צ"ח סעי' א' ובש"ך ובט"ז שם לענין קפילה
[2] קנ"ה סק"א
[3] עי' ש"ך הובא לעיל