Does concept of 'saving life' apply to preventive medicine?
MK warns of spiritual side effects as vaccination drive continues on Shabbat
All 4 HMOs vaccinate over-60s on sabbath (Oy Vey); rabbis say clinics’ computers violate rules, and they’re unlikely to give approval if there isn’t 24-hour effort on weekdays
Ignoring rabbis’ objections, and prompting fury from religious politicians, Israel vaccinated thousands of citizens on Shabbat.
The Health Ministry views all-week-long vaccination as key to achieving quick coronavirus protection — part of a plan, which also involves 24-hour clinics, to vaccinate more than 150,000 a day.
This past Saturday, the first of the vaccination drive, all four healthcare providers carried on giving shots to the 60-plus public, albeit at significantly reduced capacity, they told The Times of Israel.
MK Uri Maklev of United Torah Judaism slammed the Health Ministry for encouraging it. “How will there be a blessing for the work of their hands, when they harm Shabbat and the [religious] public in such a serious manner?” he asked rhetorically in a Haredi newspaper on Sunday.
The politician claimed that Health Minister Yuli Edelstein had promised him that there would not be Shabbat vaccinations, and attacked the justification given to administer them.
Edelstein said it was done so that the country can quickly deliver COVID-19 protection, and invoked the Jewish legal principle of saving a life, or “pikuah nefesh,” which trumps nearly all other religious requirements, including Shabbat. “The coronavirus endangers all of us, the vaccines will save all of us,” he said.
But many Orthodox Jews say that “pikuah nefesh” does not normally extend to preventative medicine. “They put everything in the category of pikuah nefesh,” Maklev said of Health Ministry leaders. “We have seen in the past that many of their instructions did not stand up to scrutiny.”
There is no prohibition on administering or receiving a vaccine on Shabbat, according to most rabbis, but they say clinics should stay shut because their operation involves other actions considered to desecrate the holy day of rest, like logging patient information on computers and operating other electrical items that are needed. They also express concern that people are made to break the religious rule against driving on Shabbat to make their appointments.
The chief rabbis have refused to back operation of vaccine
centers on Shabbat for now. Currently, “there is no permission to
violate Shabbat” for the sake of vaccination, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
David Lau said on Thursday, according to Orthodox media. (Lau and his father were able to get the vaccine almost IMMEDIATELY upon arrival in Israel)
He stressed that he supports vaccination, but argued that so long as clinics are not operating during every hour of every other day, working on Shabbat is not justified. For now, they should ramp up capacity without working Saturdays, he argued.
If and when clinics are vaccinating 24/6, “it will be possible to consider also vaccinations on Shabbat,” Lau said.
Even if the chief rabbinate eventually gives its blessing to Shabbat shots, there are indications that some influential ultra-Orthodox rabbis will remain steadfast in their objection to them.
The massively influential ultra-Orthodox halachic authority Rabbi Asher Weiss wrote that the situation is not urgent enough to consider vaccination an act of pikuah nefesh.
He was responding to questions from the UK and the US, so it is possible that he will issue another ruling regarding Israel. If he does not, Shabbat vaccination, even if part of a 24/7 campaign, is likely to remain taboo for a large part of the Israeli Haredi community, including politicians from Maklev’s party, who revere the rabbi.
The one proviso in Weiss’s position was for people in high-risk categories, or who risk infecting people who are high-risk. If they have Shabbat appointments that cannot be moved without incurring delays, in some circumstances, he would allow them to be treated — and even driven to the vaccination station in certain cases, though by a non-Jewish person, and not by a Jewish person who, in his estimation, is supposed to be observing Shabbat.
Religious objections are not stopping healthcare providers. A spokeswoman for Maccabi Healthcare Services told The Times of Israel that her nurses vaccinated 7,000 people on Shabbat, some of whom had appointments for next month and were offered to vaccinate earlier if they took Saturday appointments. Opposition from rabbis would not stop them during future weekends, she said.
Meuhedet gave 1,500 injections, mostly in Netanya and Tel Aviv. Leumit gave 2,000, mostly in central Israel. Clalit only operated in the Arab Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Weiss and Lau both hail from the ultra-Orthodox community. But while religious Zionist rabbis are often thought to take more lenient approaches than their Haredi counterparts, when it comes to this issue, they have not done so.
“If they aren’t working at night, it’s serious but not urgent,” leading religious Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Aviner told The Times of Israel on Sunday, saying no to Shabbat vaccinations. Like Lau, he said that if Israel were providing vaccinations 24/6, the answer might be different.
Aviner, one of the stricter rabbis of religious Zionism, said: “The vaccine itself does not involve Shabbat desecration, but the actions around it are,” giving examples of logging patient data on computers.
His observation that the injection itself does not transgress Shabbat reflects the laws as they are found in the book, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah, widely viewed as the authoritative Orthodox layman’s guide for Sabbath observance.
Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the moderate Orthodox rabbinic alliance Tzohar, also said he cannot justify Shabbat vaccinations for now, apart from “very high risk” populations, but added that he hopes this will change.
“I urge the government to decide how important it is to keep centers open, and if they are open 24/6, I’m almost positive that rabbis would allow vaccination on the seventh day as well.”
Does concept of 'saving life' apply to preventive medicine?
AMSHINOV CHASSIDIM LAST NIGHT!
24/6 should not be a requirement. The public and health practitioners shouldn’t be expected to go through the night. That’s not normal. Orthodox leadership is an abysmal failure. Keep showing us that the emperor has no clothing.
ReplyDeleteActually, Clalit had an open no-appointment-necessary vax session this past Shabbat in its Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva.
ReplyDeletehttps://matzav.com/lakewood-rental-market-out-of-control-what-does-the-future-hold/
ReplyDeletehttps://www.timesofisrael.com/in-1800s-poland-hasidic-runaway-girls-spurred-a-jewish-school-revolution/
ReplyDeleteIn yeshiva they only tell you the hechrach for Sora Schenirer was the maydelach going off the derech, bifrat by the Chassidishe. They don't tell you they were shmading zich in Nunneries.
Our yingel Litzman is slacking! Anything less than 75% is unacceptable!
ReplyDeleteThe Health Ministry official overseeing fighting coronavirus among Israel’s Haredim revealed today that community recently accounted for 26% of all new cases, even though it makes up little more than 10% of the total population.
In a press briefing, Roni Numa said enforcement of lockdown among Haredim isn't good enough, in part for political reasons.
“Regrettably, enforcement in places, principally in yeshivas, isn't effective,” Numa said, after reporting numbers that show the past day or so 26% of all new virus cases are Haredi.
The positive rate for Haredim is 15%, compared to 11% for Arabs, where there's also a significant outbreak, considerably higher than 4% for the rest of the population. 3 weeks ago, the positive rate for Haredim was 5%. Of the infected, 60% are ages 10-19 & most asymptomatic, unwittingly infecting their families at home.
Asked if politics prevents enforcement of restrictions, Numa affirmed it's the case.
“Certainly, everything has an effect, these things are connected.”
Noting Israel's now in run-up to elections, Numa said “Anyone who says it doesn’t have an effect distorts the truth.”
Haredim are key allies of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in the coalition.
Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy rejects the claim, telling Kan it's the large number of elderly Haredim & crowded living conditions, that's to blame.
Ynet news reported today serious outbreaks of the virus are in a number of Haredi yeshivas, 2 weeks after students returned from Hanukkah break.
As per the report, an internal Ministry document reveals patients at a number of yeshivas aren't separated from other students, leading to clusters of infection.
The report said even yeshivas that maintain regulations of students divided in small pods are starting to see wide outbreaks.
However, Numa said while there'd been 500 cases of yeshiva students since Hanukkah, the outbreaks are centered on just 12 yeshivas of 100s, not enough to warrant ending the pod system & closing the yeshivas.
“It's not good, but it's not a collapse.”
Part of the issue, Numa said, is it took too long for students exposed to the virus to get results back from tests & growing impatient, they broke quarantine.
“We didn’t get control of those things. We're trying to improve.”
Numa’s remarks came as the Ministry found 7 new cases of a mutated, highly contagious strain originating in the UK.
Of 96 samples to detect the strain, the 7 confirmed are from Jerusalem & Bnei Brak. 100s more samples are still being processed.
None of those infected with the mutation had recently returned from abroad. So far there are 30 cases of the new strain in the country, of which only 6 came from abroad.
Israel today entered a 2nd week of lockdown to curb rising infections that last week broke 6,000 new cases a day.
There are 48,366 active patients, 761 in serious condition, with 209 ventilated. The death toll rose to 3,412.
In light of still-climbing numbers despite 1,000,000+ Israelis already given the 1st dose of the vaccine, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said he's pushing for expanded lockdown.
https://dusiznies.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-rebbe-that-leaves-no-sherayim.html
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot more geshmak in eating one's self to death
If there was ever a reason to disavow Orthodox Judaism, this it it! So glad I do not live in Israel where rabbis have any influence on how one lives.
ReplyDeleteStan Silverman was obviously bitter & OTD before the pandemic. Plenty of rabbis who are still sane. We can't help it that the shysters taking control was prophesized to take place before Moshiach.
ReplyDeleteWho do these apikorsim think they are, listening to doctors & UOJ instead of ME??!!
ReplyDeleteIn light of the alarming rise in virus morbidity in Israel in general and in Telzstone specifically, Telzstone city council decided today to close all its educational institutions, from pre-school thru high school.
The decision was made after the beginning of the school day. Parents were called to come to pick up their children.
“We’re taking responsibility & saving lives,” said Rav Yitzchak Ravitz, head of Telzstone city council. “This was a difficult decision but there’s a sharp rise in morbidity & our sense of responsibility obligates us to make decisions even if they’re uncomfortable.”
Telzstone is not the only city that's decided to close its educational institutions due to the recent sharp increase in morbidity in Israel.
Stan,
ReplyDeleteThe objective of this blog is to shed light on the darkness that exists among us, to improve us, to hold people accountable. For too long, the darkness of idiots in power got away with their idiocy. All people are imperfect, we should demand better from the people that refer to themselves as leaders. There has been some progress, but not nearly enough!
Ta, it's not all bad:
ReplyDeleteHospital heads: 3rd COVID wave shaping up to be worst yet; Edelstein: Like Italy
Top doctors say rise in virus patients steeper than ever; warn 10,000 cases a day if lockdown not tightened
5 January 2021
Hospital chiefs yesterday warned they see signs Israel's entering the worst wave of the pandemic yet, with new cases flooding their facilities.
“We're at the beginning of a very serious wave,” Dr. Prof. Pierre Singer, head of intensive care at Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva, told Channel 13.
He said hospitals are seeing “younger cases,” including patients in their early 30s.
“I see whole families infected. People don't understand this disease is infectious & dangerous. It’s not over,” Singer said.
Salman Zarka, director of Safed’s Ziv Medical Center, said the disease is “more than in previous waves.”
“Patients come to the hospital in very serious condition. We still have months which we must keep the rules. It’s a shame, so unnecessary to get sick now, when we see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, referring to the vaccine drive.
Shlomi Codish, director of Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, also said his hospital sees a “steep, sharp rise” in new patients.
“The rise is steeper than the 2nd wave & we expect we’ll be in a much more severe state. “Patients in very serious condition & as long as it continues, unfortunately it'll be accompanied by significant mortality.”
The Health Ministry said yesterday there were 7,061 new infections during the day, a preliminary figure sure to rise further. It appeared to be the highest single-day tally in 3 months. 1,345 people were hospitalized as of last night for COVID, an increase of 300 patients since Thurs. 772 were in serious condition, with 179 ventilated.
The rise in infections is accompanied by increasing fatalities, with 190+ deaths in the past week. Since the pandemic began, 3,445 Israelis have died from COVID.
Israel's recorded 448,173 infections, 53,912 active.
Israel last week imposed a 3rd lockdown & still health officials & Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu call to tighten restrictions as infections continue to surge.
Ministers were told failure to enact tighter lockdown in coming days will cause 1,000 more deaths, Channel 13 reported yesterday.
Officials fear Israel can see infections rocket to 10,000 a day in weeks, as per the report.
The network also said the PM supports strict lockdown, saying other strategies haven't proven effective lowering morbidity anywhere in the world.
Yesterday, Bibi told cabinet ministers they'll reconvene in 48 hours on tightening lockdown.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein warned Israel's heading to the same fate as Italy, which last year as one of the worst-affected countries suffered 75,000 deaths.
“If we don’t take the most stringent action, in March we'll be the same as Italy last March,” Edelstein said, as per leaks from the meeting.
However, there's opposition in the cabinet to lockdown, in particular closing the education system, a move Blue + White chair Benny Gantz said he won't agree to. A meeting of core ministers tasked with policy on the virus is to convene today to decide on full closure of education. Only the full cabinet can give final approval to lockdown orders.