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| R' Gershon Edelstein and Charedi health expert, Avraham Elimelech Firer (JP) |
There is however a troubling catch. In order for this to actually be the beginning of the end, enough people have to get vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. Which would eventually drive down the numbers infected to the point where we can get back to normal. The catch is that a lot of people (both here and in Israel) fear getting vaccinated. Not only the antivaxxers. But even people that would normally do so but fear that the vaccine was rushed through and isn’t safe enough. From the Times of Israel:
Polls have shown that 50 to 75 percent of Israelis are leery of getting the coronavirus vaccine shot, apparently out of fears that the rush to produce an inoculation may have compromised its safety.
That fear is unjustified according to all health experts in a position to know. The incredible speed by which these vaccines were produced is a tribute to modern science. Scientists have been able to produce these vaccines in record time without sacrificing safety in the slightest. Every precaution that has ever been observed in the manufacture and testing of vaccines was meticulously followed here. There were no short cuts. There is not a single heath expert that has said otherwise. Every single one that I have heard interviewed about this has said the same thing. They will all be taking the vaccine as soon as they are made available to them.
What about the rabbis? Is there room for a rabbinic opinion here? Of course there is provided they base it on the advice of experts. Which is what real Poskim do. Not on some sort of ill informed fear that some so-called Poskim might have. Which is why I am happy to report that rabbis from two very different segments of Orthodox Jewry are urging us all to vaccinate.
I would only caution that if one has allergies or a medical condition where the vaccine might cause harm, they ought to consult with their personal physicians to see if they should or shouldn’t vaccinate. But for everyone else, vaccinations should be taken as soon as they are made available. So said the rabbis of the OU and RCA based on the advice of their Poskim. And so too has said two of the most revered Charedi rabbis in Israel, Rav Chaim Kanievesky and Rav Gershon Edelstein. If there was ever a time to listen to their Daas Torah, this is it!
Unfortunately it appears that there are some Chasidic rabbis (or at least one) that have faith only in themselves and are ignoring what health experts say. They are telling their people not to get vaccinated. My advice to their Chasidim is to ignore their rabbis and get vaccinated. (Not that they would listen to me even if they knew what I said.)
In the meantime - while the appearance of a vaccine is very happy news, more people are dying now from COVID than at any other time. With predictions that it will only get worse. That is a sobering thought. What a sad irony it would be if someone contracted COVID now, getting so sick that they would be placed in an ICU and maybe on a ventilator with serious risk of death. That is happening. And there is little doubt that it will continue to happen.
Which is why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of still wearing masks and staying at least six feet away from people you don’t live with. We cannot get complacent about these important preventive measures. Which have been issued by government authorities upon the advice of health experts. Time and again, these experts have expressed their highly informed and reliable view that if everybody did that, we would not be anywhere near the number of COVID infections, hospitalizations, and deaths that we are now.
And yet, there are so many people who are otherwise intelligent and well informed that still reject that advice – relying instead on a variety of rationalizations and excuses to not wear masks at all. They do so reluctantly and with a certain degree of resentment if they are forced by the ‘rules of entry’ into Shul, a doctor’s office, or a grocery store. While this is true in about half the population (which can help explain why the COVID numbers are so high) my experience has been that in my neighborhood the worst offenders are Charedim.
This is not to say that all of them are. On the contrary. Most of them are as meticulous about masking up as I am. But in the vast majority of cases where I detect a laxity and resentment of wearing a mask, it is by a Charedi fellow. I have for this reason stopped going to Shul on weekdays for both Shachris and Maariv. (I still attend a weekday Mincha and Shachris on Shabbos because the people at that Minyan (Brisk) are few and literally far between. And they all wear masks. On the rare occasion where someone strays in without a mask, they are asked to put one on or leave. They have no weekday Shachris mniyan and their weekday Maariv Minyan is too late for me.)
The last time I Davened in a Shul for Maariv, one fellow came in without a mask and started Davening just a couple of steps away from me. He had to be told to mask up. Several other people there wore their masks below their nose. In all cases they were wearing white shirts, suit jackets, and black hats – the uniform of the Charedi world.
When I politely asked the one closest to me to pull up his mask he looked at me with a disdainful look. Along the lines of ‘Who do you think you are telling me what to do?!’ He then turned away and continued Davening that way. Eventually he did pull it up. I guess he thought better of it realizing that it was after all the rule.
That is typical of a certain type of Charedi that looks down at anyone outside of his Charedi orbit that challenges their ‘obviously’ holier ways. It did not occur to him that his right to wear a mask as he pleases denies my right to be protected by his following the rules. No… to this Charedi fellow and many like him, people like me are considered ignorant at best. Or Apikursim (heretics) and outright Reshaim (evil people) at worst!
The chances of someone like that getting COVID is low enough so that he probably won’t get infected. And I do not wish that on him. He is a fellow Jew. But that will surely reinforce his self-righteous belief about masks. I can’t think of too many things more selfish than someone unwilling to follow a relatively easy measure like masking up for a few minutes during Maariv – just because he doesn’t personally believe in it and doesn’t care that others around him do. Especially when the rules of the Shul require it.
Like I said. A lot of people in this country have this selfish attitude. But I have to wonder why the people in my orbit that do all seem to be Charedi.