Image by Getty Images

(JTA) — The New York City Department of Health has threatened to fine or even close yeshivas in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn if students who are not vaccinated against measles are allowed to attend classes.

The crack-down comes more than a week before the Passover holiday, when large and extended Orthodox families gather and when synagogues are more full than usual.

There have been 285 reported cases of measles in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community since October, 246 of which are children, CBS New York reported, citing the health department.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

CBS reported that the “vast majority” of children in the largely haredi Orthodox community of Williamsburg are vaccinated, but that it continues to spread due to how tightknit the community is. The community’s rabbis have called on the haredi public to get vaccinated, according to the report.

The health department in December ordered yeshivas and day care centers in specific Brooklyn zip codes, populated largely with haredi Orthodox, to exclude all non-vaccinated students until the end of the current measles outbreak. A Williamsburg yeshiva that fell out of compliance in January is connected to more than 40 measles cases, ABC7 New York reported.

On Friday, a New York state judge lifted the state of emergency imposed by Rockland County that would have barred minors not vaccinated against the measles from public places.

The Brooklyn outbreak has been tied to an unvaccinated child who contracted the disease during a trip to Israel, the Washington Post reported.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount