Anti-Vaccine Pamphlet Targeting New York Parents Cites Leading Orthodox Rabbis
A yeshiva in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis April 10, 2019
An Orthodox anti-vaccine group is circulating a digital pamphlet that quotes two of the most prominent rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox world, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
“These aren’t just local no-name rabbis,” one mother who identified herself as Breindy to the Post said, according to the paper. “As soon as I saw those names, I knew I wasn’t going to vaccinate my children.”
The pamphlet quotes rabbis Shmuel Kamenetsky and Chaim Kanievsky saying that yeshivas should allow unvaccinated children to attend. Kanievsky is one of Israel’s most revered rabbis; Kamenetsky leads a major ultra-Orthodox yeshiva, and is a member of the rabbinical leadership council of Agudath Israel of America, a major umbrella organization and advocacy group for Orthodox Jews.
Kamenetsky is a longtime critic of vaccines. The Forward reported in 2014 that he had called vaccines a “hoax.”
A historic measles outbreak in New York City has struck ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn, sickening 285 people. A related outbreak has also occurred in heavily-Jewish parts of New York’s Rockland County. On Tuesday, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis
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.
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.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant
-
Fast Forward More than 55 Jewish groups come out against terrorism bill that could threaten nonprofits
-
Fast Forward Why the Senate’s Israel vote matters, as Democrats divide on the Jewish state
-
Fast Forward Jessica Tisch, Jewish public servant, appointed as commissioner of NYPD
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 2
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 3
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective
-
Yiddish קאָנצערט לכּבֿוד דעם ייִדישן שרײַבער און רעדאַקטאָר באָריס סאַנדלערConcert honoring Yiddish writer and editor Boris Sandler
דער בעל־שׂימחה האָט יאָרן לאַנג געדינט ווי דער רעדאַקטאָר פֿונעם ייִדישן פֿאָרווערטס.
-
Fast Forward Trump’s new pick for surgeon general blames the Nazis for pesticides on our food
-
Fast Forward Jewish feud over Trump escalates with open letter in The New York Times
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.