By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
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There is a video circulating that is, essentially, attacking Rabbi Yaakov Bender of Yeshiva Darchei Torah. The person doing the attacking, Rabbi E., is an eloquent and well-spoken talmid chochom. The truth is that the video attacks pretty much all of the Five Towns Rabbis, but Rabbi Bender has been singled out. The problem is that the Rabbi doing the attacking has made some very serious errors which can mislead the masses and Heaven forbid cause deaths, rachmana litzlan. Indeed, all five prongs of the attack are wrong.
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RABBI E.’s FIRST ATTACK
Rabbi E. points out is that Rabbi Bender made a mistake regarding the percentage of doctors who have been vaccinated. The true AMA study showed that 96% of doctors have been vaccinated. Rabbi Bender said that it was 99%.
I believe that Rabbi Bender did err slightly here in confusing two very different studies. One study was of doctors who were vaccinated (96%) and the second study was of current serious COVID victims who were unvaccinated (99%). Rabbi E. is correct in that Rabbi Bender confused the study that showed 99% of the current COVID victims were those who had not received the vaccine with the doctor study. That’s right. It is a fact that of all of the victims of COVID only 1 percent of them received the vaccine. 99% were unvaccinated.
Rabbi E. makes no mention of this statistic when he attacks Rabbi Bender. This is disingenuous. It is clear that Rabbi Bender was thinking about this specific statistic when he used the number 99%.
It would actually be rather humorous if the underlying issues were not so serious and significant. Rabbi E. is essentially saying, “Rabbi Bender, you misrepresented! It’s only 96% not 99%! So you are lying!” But the statistic it came from is even more devastating to Rabbi E’s point.
Look at the victims. 99% of them did not vaccinate. This actually makes the argument to vaccinate even stronger. To make the point even clearer let’s go to an analogy.
THE TAX ANALOGY
Imagine there is a software that analyzes your tax return with the goal of making sure that you do not get a tax audit. The software is marketed all over the country and half of the country uses the software. The results are compared with those who were actually audited by the IRS.
Of those who were audited, 99% of them did not use the software. 1% did use the software. Would anyone in his right mind not use the software?
If we would certainly do this in regard to avoiding a tax audit why wouldn’t we do it to avoid severe illness or death?
RABBI E.’s SECOND ATTACK
Rabbi E’s next point is to say that the AMA study just surveyed its own members. AMA members, he says, have already been indoctrinated. He is claiming that the doctors were cherry-picked. This might have been a valid point if it was true.
Rabbi E., however, misrepresented this point. The AMA just designed the survey. They didn’t administer it. It was given to WEBMD doctors – who do represent a broader cross-section of doctors.
WebMD is an American corporation which is an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. It also includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites by unique visitors. It has nothing to do with the AMA. It was founded in 1998 by internet entrepreneur Jeff Arnold.
His second point, then, is an absolute misrepresentation. Sadly, Rabbi E. is using his powerful eloquence to highlight a fabrication. True, it could be that he missed the part about WEBMD when he read the study, but still, before you attack someone, do them the courtesy of double-checking your information.
RABBI E.’s THIRD ATTACK
Rabbi E also claims that there are one million doctors in the United States and that the study only surveyed 304 doctors, and 11 eleven were not vaccinated. he claims that 304 is nothing compared to the amount of doctors in this country.
The truth is that there are 620,520 US MD’s in this country and that the number 304 from a statistical vantage point will produce a 95% confidence rate with a margin of error of 6%. 95% confidence rate is the standard usage.
You can check this out with a statistics expert. Just ask any actuary.
RABBI E.’s HALACHIC ERROR AND FOURTH ATTACK
Rabbi E. claims that Rabbi Bender’s use of the majority of doctors (96%) statistic is against the Mishnah Brurah and is actually a halachic error on his part. Rabbi E. quotes the Mishna Brurah 618:11 that when you have 2 doctors saying that you should feed a specif sick person on Yom Kippur against 100 doctors who say not to feed that sick person on Yom Kippur, both groups are considered as equal and you do feed the sick person on Yom Kippur. This is because of the principle of trei k’meah and that we do not follow a majority when it comes to Pikuach Nefesh.
Rabbi E’s point is against the Gemorah in Kesuvos which tells us that we are stringent when it comes to saving life and we do not follow percentages that tell us not to save life.
Thus, there is a vast, vast difference between the two cases. In the Mishna Brurah’s case, there is no harm to the person if you end up feeding him food. Here, however, the 96% are saying that it is dangerous not to vaccinate.
It is not just me that makes this point. One of the leading Gedolim of the generation has made this point as well. Rav Moshe Shternbuch shlita has written, “Even though there are some individual doctors who claim that the vaccine can damage the child, since the overwhelming majority of doctors hold that vaccines do not damage at all, we are not to follow the tiny fraction of a minority of doctors who claim that vaccines damage (even though in general in safek pikuach nefesh cases we do not follow the majority in cases of medical opinions as is explained in Shulchan Aruch OC 618:4). Because here it is different in that if we follow the minority view, we are endangering others according to the majority view of the doctors. On the other hand, if we follow the view of the majority of doctors, we will be endangering people according to the view of the minority of doctors. In such a situation where on each side there is Pikuach Nefesh, we must certainly follow the majority. For the entire reason not to follow the majority is just in order to save life – and there is no “greater saving” here if we follow the minority view. Thus the halacha goes back to following the majority like in all other Torah cases where we follow the majority.”
RABBI E.’s FIFTH ATTACK
In his third point, Rabbi E. lays the claim that all the studies regarding the vaccine for pregnant women are based upon only one study from the CDC. He attacked the Rabbis for giving false medical advice and said that he hopes that they are prepared to face the consequences for this.
Yet, this point is also not true. Way back in August, Dr. Ashley Roman from NYU published an article in the American Journal of Obstretrics & Gynecology – Maternal Fetal Medicine from his own institution.
According to the NYU website: “Studies continue to reinforce the importance of vaccines during pregnancy and their power to protect two lives at once by preventing severe illness in both mothers and babies,” says Ashley S. Roman, MD, director of the Division of Maternal–Fetal Medicine and the Silverman Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU Langone Health, and one of the study’s principal investigators. “If babies could be born with antibodies, it could protect them in the first several months of their lives, when they are most vulnerable.”
The CDC consistently asserted that vaccines should not be withheld from people who are pregnant and want the vaccine. Dr. Roman and colleagues confirm the strong evidence that the mRNA vaccines are safe during pregnancy in a study published August 16 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology—Maternal–Fetal Medicine, titled “COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy: Early Experience from a Single Institution.” The study found no increased risks during pregnancy, birth complications, or identifiable risks to the fetus among those who received the vaccine.”
ANOTHER POINT
We can also ask, what about the babies? In Brazil, 1300 babies died of COVID. True, in America, it is much rarer in that only ¼ of one percent of babies get COVID, but why not give them the opportunity for antibodies too? The NYU study showed that 100% of pregnant women that are vaccinated give their antibodies to their fetus. Why not give it to them?
THOSE WE KNOW
Let’s point out one more thought. We all know someone or a few people who passed away from COVID. Rachmana litzlan. I know of twelve. But does anyone out there know of anyone who died from the vaccine? I don’t. Nor do I know anyone who knows someone who died from the vaccine.
CONCLUSION
The attack on Rabbi Bender and the other Rabbis is, plainly and simply, wrong. All three of Rabbi E’s points are misrepresentations. Rabbi E is a known antivaxxer who also testified against the measles vaccination at the State of Connecticut’s Public Health Committee. Although this is conjecture, it is highly likely that had Rabbi E. been of age, he might also have tried to convince the world not to take the Polio vaccine.
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The author can be reached at [email protected]
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I saw the video and his name should be published. People should know whom to avoid when it comes to halacha. Comparing the minority opinion being listened to on yom kippur to preserve a life with a minority opinion that does the opposite is outeageous. While one can argue the safety of the vaccines in the long term because the data does not exist, in the short term it is safe and very effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death (not getting infected).
What is wrong with naming the author? He obviously published his attacks publicly, why give him such respect when he does not respect others.
The insane campaigns against the covid vax ignore the fact that they almost wiped out polio and smallpox a generation ago. Same with measels , even though it made a recurrence of sorts.
I would like to see the video so I can judge full for myself.
How can I to see it the video?
Why is Rabbi Ep, not being named? And why not show the video. With it’s pulsing music and choppy style, in the typical manner of all conspiracy videos, it’s very enlightning.
I relied on Educated Archy for medical advice and it didn’t turn out well
Rabbi Yair Hoffman call this Rabbi E. a talmid chacham?? Really now. What Talmid Chacham goes around publicly shaming a well-known and popular Rosh Yeshiva and community leader, including many other Rabonim?. How ridiculous. More like a שוטה and/or רשע.
Why has this become the Anonymous Netter vs. Rav Bender? If someone creates a video and circulates it, he has no claim to anonymity. Especially if, as people claim, he has publicly attacked the YDT RY.
Would someone please demystify this?
Sara – you write “my family rabbi got the shots- it gave him horrible shingles for 6 months …. After which he STILL got covid. He’s not recommending it anymore.”
Your family Rabbi should have a refuah sheleimah.
However, how would your Rabbi — or you — know that there was any connection between his getting Shingles and also having had the Covid vaccine? Shingles is quite common — do you have any data that shows it has become more common, now that people are getting Covid vaccines? Given the hundreds of millions of people who’ve been vaccinated, wouldn’t that sudden increase in Shingles cases have been noticed? Perhaps there’s a conspiracy to hide this data?
From the Mayo Clinic site:
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who’s had chickenpox may develop shingles. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus enters your nervous system and lies dormant for years.
Eventually, it may reactivate and travel along nerve pathways to your skin — producing shingles. But, not everyone who’s had chickenpox will develop shingles.
The reason for shingles is unclear. But it may be due to lowered immunity to infections as you grow older. Shingles is more common in older adults and in people who have weakened immune systems.
Here are some of the risk factors. How many of these apply to your Rabbi?
Risk factors
Anyone who has ever had chickenpox can develop shingles. Most adults in the United States had chickenpox when they were children, before the advent of the routine childhood vaccination that now protects against chickenpox.
Factors that may increase your risk of developing shingles include:
Being older than 50. Shingles is most common in people older than 50. The risk increases with age.
Having certain diseases. Diseases that weaken your immune system, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, can increase your risk of shingles.
Undergoing cancer treatments. Radiation or chemotherapy can lower your resistance to diseases and may trigger shingles.
Taking certain medications. Drugs designed to prevent rejection of transplanted organs can increase your risk of shingles — as can prolonged use of steroids, such as prednisone.
Why does someone have to be right and the other wrong, why attack each other, why can’t it be a matter of different opinions like every machlokes, what’s going on with attacking rabbis personally?
Fyi Sweden suspended the use of moderna vaccines for ppl under
30,
I don’t know if the vaccine kills, however it can cause disabilities. It alarms the body and gets it into full fighting mode. If someone has a dormant or mild existing issue (that they might not even be aware of), it can cause an overcharged autoimmune reaction that is impossible or extremely difficult to shake. My father was a vibrant, healthy, active person who developed debilitating movement and cognitive issues directly after getting the second shot. We have gone to top specialists & there is a correlation. There is no way they have accurate documentation of the people adversely affected by it right now, it may take years to compile.
In my opinion, it is irresponsible to recommend & administer it across the board without creating a specialized screening plan. (eg – it’s like saying peanut butter is full of protein & healthy for all, only to find out a minority are severely allergic.)
I’m all for taking a vaccine that works, but at the end of the day, the current “Vaccine” is only good for 6 months at most – then you need another shot.
When will they have a version that will be good for life? or at least 5 or 10 years? Or at least good for all currently known versions.
How many deaths after jab with official remark of “suffered from underlying causes”?
I have a simple question: why all of a sudden is it not allowed to question medical science? Why is there a concerted effort to stop dialogue if the “facts” can speak for themselves? This was never about public health, was it?
Let us not forget that most of the atrocities in Nazi Germany we’re carried out by doctors (yes, real doctors) in the name of science.
I’m sorry if it bothers you to hear this, but it is an undeniable truth. Once medicine, or any other field for that matter, becomes institutionalized, individuals, their knowledge, thoughts, experience and opinions are lost to the message broadcast by the institution. Any objection is met with cancellation and loss of licensure.
Follow the money. Use your head, open your eyes. The sheker is all around us.
Don’t be fooled by the greedy perverts.
How many people do you personally know that have died? Honestly.
They tried this in 2011, 2015 and this time it finally took hold. The only pandemic here is fear. And the fear is overwhelming and all consuming.
During the Spanish Flu, did people need MSNBC to tell them how terrible the disease was? If you shut your phone, your TV and just live your life I promise you would have no idea that there is global pandemonium.
Go 2 hours outside of any big city and these lies do not exist.
Wake up people, before it’s too late
There is a great deal of suppressed factual information concerning damage the vaccine has caused to thousands of people. All one has to do is search uncensored social media sites. Or the VAERS site. Then make a personal decision concerning the vaccine.
I could care less about Rabbi Bender or rabbi E or Rabbi Hoffman but there’s only one place where people still didn’t open their shuls normally for everyone and that’s in five towns so somebody is crazy here.
Why are you guys tearing apart the beautiful Five Towns community. Stupid arguers, you are playing with the fire of gehinnom. I don’t know if you are correct or if the others are correct. I do see that by making a public argument, you are shaming your community.
Needless to say, that the growth of chutzpah against our Rabbonim on either side is a horrible indicator about how your children will grow up.
I hope and pray that you come to your senses soon.
דרכה דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותה שלום.
Rabbi Epstein is not only a Talmud chochum but a tzaddik. Thank you rabbi for standing up for the truth. IMHO, you have a very special place rewarded to you in the next world. We need more courageous rabbis like you who go against the tide. G-d bless you and your family.
Great post.
The last line in particular is quite humerous.
This Rabbi E, (whoever this is) is old enough ro have opposed the Polio vaccine.
In other words, he is over the hill…
Now attacking other rabbonim, is not ok. But vaccines are a machlokos with many Lakewood rabbonim signing to abstain from vaccines. I took the vaccine
Rabbi E had courage to stand up and say- what are you saying? Did you look into these facts and verify them?
By the way the one lousy observational study used to approve the vax for pregnant women was retracted .
Scary stuff
Listen to rabbi E
It’s all common sense
He rips their advice to shreds because it’s all based on flimsy safety studies done by compromised agencies working hand in hand with big pharma
rabbi E isn’t the only one against the shot- my family rabbi got the shots- it gave him horrible shingles for 6 months …. After which he STILL got covid. He’s not recommending it anymore.
My own doctor said clearly to a patient in the waiting room in front of all his other patients – don’t get the Pfizer I had ten patients with heart problems and one man in his 30s who died.