Thursday February 18, 2021
I've Been Thinking:

Israel’s Chief Rabbi David Lau suspended a rabbinic judge who serves on the conversion court.

As president of Supreme Rabbinical Courts, Rabbi Lau has the authority to suspend judges for behaviors deemed inappropriate. This judge refuses to take the COVID vaccine.

In a statement issued by Rabbi Lau, he wrote: “It is forbidden for a person to damage his own body and all the more so that of someone else”.

Lau said that the dangers of COVID-19 are a verifiable fact and that any dangers inherent in the vaccine are uncertain, and that it is, therefore, an obligation to get vaccinated.

He explained: “Someone who does not get vaccinated is not only likely to harm himself but is also likely to harm someone else.”

According to the Chief Rabbi, protecting one’s health allows people to “fulfil our obligations in a world of significance … Someone who does not fulfill this command rejects the good that God granted his world by giving us the possibility of getting out of the distress caused by the coronavirus.”

According to Jewish law, Rabbi Lau is correct. According to Israeli law, I’m not sure if suspending the rabbi for these reasons is legal.

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