There have been outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases among ultra-orthodox Jewish communities in Israel, the UK, and the US (see Haaretz, Crown Heights Newsletter, Joshua Zelinksi and the Bensonhurst Bean)
This has lead some naive US anti-vaccination commentators to have the belief that it is against Jewish law or custom to recieve vaccines.
Actually, the opposite is the case.
Obviously, the Torah does not write which illness should be treated with a vaccination, nor at what age, nor what drug and how much should be administered. The Torah is not a medical text in this sense. The Torah only says to listen to physicians, as it says, "Let them cure you" (Shemot 21:19). Obviously, this is referring to a real physician and not to someone who has decided to call himself a physician. Therefore, the question is: What do we do when there is a disagreement between physicians, with some claiming that vaccinations are dangerous, and bringing many arguments in support, and others claiming that not vaccinating is what is dangerous, and bringing arguments no less convincing. It's like a case occurring in the Sanhedrin in which some of the sages say that someone deserves the death penalty while others say that he is exempt. The Torah has decreed that we "follow the majority" (Shemot 23:2). The same applies regarding physicians, that we follow the majority (for example, regarding the point at which a sick person can begin to eat on Yom Kippur (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 618). Most of the world's physicians and those in Eretz Yisrael say vociferously that we have to vaccinate, and not just "most" but almost all. Therefore, this is the law. So ends the discussion. This is a halachah like any other, even more so, for there is the well-known principle that "a threat to life is more serious than a prohibition" (Chullin 10a). Therefore, what follows is not a halachic deliberation, for the ruling has already been passed down. Rather, it is an explanation to make the matter more palatable to our mind and heart.
You should read the whole thing, as Reb Aviner goes through a thorough set of objections and misapprehensions.
From Rabbi Goldie Milgram, at the Living Judaism section of the Philadelphia Jewish Voice
Two contemporary teshuvot on our question exist, one written in 2004 by Rabbi Joseph Prouser for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement and, in 1999, the Reform Movement’s Central Conference of American Rabbis’ Responsa 5759.10. Integrating these into their recommendations, my students concluded:
- The Jewish day school has a right to refuse admission to children who are not vaccinated. Our ruling is based on numerous Jewish principles including pikuach nefesh (mandate to preserve life), refuah bedukah or vadait (a medical therapy, or proven effect) for which immunization qualifies, dina d'malchutah dina (the law of the land is the law) including state requirements for school vaccinations, and takkanat ha-kahal, the right of the school to set and enforce its own policies.
- Jewish ethics does support requiring school vaccinations. There is a wealth of Jewish halachah, ancient and contemporary, that justifies viewing the practice of medicine as a mitzvah. In addition, there is little peer-reviewed scientific evidence to demonstrate that the risks posed by school vaccinations outweigh the risks of children not being vaccinated.
Our students concluded as will I, with a section of Midrash Shmuel which reads: Yediat He-khakham V'b'keeat Ha-rofei in which the first letters of the words, yud-hey-vav-hey, correspond to the four letters of the name of God which transforms them into the notion that God aligns with “the knowledge of the wise and the expertise of the healer [physician].” This supports the notion that schools should be encouraged to hold educational forums for parents on immunization, and that parents should seek out and carefully evaluate studies and encourage such forums. The very parents who raise questions might become advocates for vaccination research and development so that more lives can be saved.
Asher Bush is the rav of Congregation Ahavas Yisrael in Wesley Hills, NY, and is currently the chairman of the Rabbinical Council of America’s Vaad Halacha. He has authored over fifty articles on various halakhic topics including medical issues, and his Sho’el b-Shlomo responsa address a range of contemporary issues from prayer and kashrut to family life and education. He published Vaccination in Halakhah and in Practice, which goes into the law and precedences in great detail.
The short answer is, Jewish law recommends vaccination.
Update:
NYC DOHMH Alert # 15 - Update on Measles in New York City: New Vaccine Recommendations
Dear Health Alert Network (HAN) Subscriber:
June 4, 2013
ALERT # 15: Update on Measles in New York City: New Vaccine Recommendations Measles transmission has been sustained by two factors: a large pool of susceptible children under 12 months of age and large family and communal gatherings. To interrupt the spread of measles in this community, the Health Department recommends that the first dose of measles-mumps-rubella-vaccine (MMR) now be given at 6 months of age to all Orthodox Jewish children living in Borough Park, Williamsburg, and Crown Heights. Although cases of measles have not yet been identified in Crown Heights, we are extending this recommendation to this community to prevent introduction of measles. Further, non-Orthodox children receiving medical care in practices that serve predominantly Orthodox Jewish patients, should also receive MMR vaccine beginning at 6 months of age because of the increased risk of exposure.
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