Dear Editor,
I write this appalled, ashamed, and frankly infuriated at what has become commonplace in frum communities in recent months.
Ever since Covid-19 vaccines first became widely available in April, there has been vigorous debate, particularly among frum people, whether one should subject themselves to the shot.
I fully understand the hesitation by many over the shot. Many are worried that the lack of long-term studies of the vaccine’s effects on the body could be hiding severe detrimental side effects. Others who have already recovered from a Covid-19 infection don’t want to get a vaccine for a virus that they have already been infected with and presumably have developed antibodies against. On the more extreme end, there are people who think that they’re not allowed to take it because of religious concerns, and on the far fringes are those who believe that the vaccines cause certain illnesses, like Lyme disease.
I, for one, am fully vaccinated, but I get the hesitation, and I don’t think people holding off from getting the shot are necessarily anti-vaxxers, anti-science, or crazy. What does boggle my mind, however, is the lying and deception that has become so sadly commonplace as a result of people’s vaccine hesitancy.
What lying and deception, you ask? As anyone who has tried traveling abroad in recent months likely knows, there is a huge black market for fake Covid-19 vaccination cards. I personally know approximately a dozen people who have obtained forged vaccination cards so that they could go on family vacations abroad – to Israel, the Caribbean, you name it. They’re galloping across the world based on a lie.
Why does this bother me so much? No, it’s not because I’m a paragon of truth and honesty – I am far from it. What is so troubling to me is the examples being set for children by their parents. Lying to get what you want? Is that really how we want to raise our children? Is that the chinuch we want to ingrain in them?
Lying and deception is sanctioned by the Torah in certain very specific circumstances, such as in a case where it could help avert an unnecessary fight between people or to maintain shalom bayis. But it surely is not sanctioned so you can go visit your favorite tropical island.
Our children have been exposed to a lot of really negative things over the past year and a half, including learning to buck the advice and guidance of our leaders and rabbanim, but in the long run, those terrible lessons just might pale in comparison to the churban of us teaching our children by our own example that lying to further our own interests is perfectly okay.
Hashem’s stamp is “emes” – truth. Emes is integral to our way of life, it is crucial in our being mechanech our children al pi derech hatorah. To throw it away so that our plans aren’t hampered by vaccine mandates and travel restrictions is putting our physical pleasures over the primacy of the Torah. And when we put pleasure over the Torah, we are in deep, deep trouble.
Y. Jacobson – Monsey
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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47 Responses
I agree with the author. Fake cards can end up infecting other people. It is one thing to hurt yourself but what heter is there to hurt others?
You’re not a paragon of truth and honesty? Why not? I stopped reading after that line.
Btw, I had covid and two Moderna shots. I became extremely sick after both shots, and thanks for suggesting the idea I get a fake vaccine card for the third so I can enter Israel. I might look into it.
Let me respond.
The way some people see the situation is this. A bunch of evil people from the left have taken the liberty to assume control of everyone in every aspect of their lives. They took control of our religious institutions and practices, our jobs, our schools, our medical institutions, our travels, our ability to participate in many parts of regular daily life, just about everything. They are trying to force everyone’s hand to do something which is dangerous to people’s health. So now, the people are forced to defy the wicked totalitarian regime. But in order do this, they will have to deceive those evil dictators. So the lying is for the sake of our life, health, and liberty, and the traveling is but a tiny part of that. The criminals are not the good people for lying, as they have little or no choice. The criminals are the wicked evil people who seek to destroy society in this way.
The good news is that there recently have been multiple federal criminal indictments for the sale and usage of fraudulent vaccination cards with potential penalties of $5,000 and 5-years in jail. Hopefully, by next year, at least some of the dozen sets of parents referenced in the letter will get to spend some of their vacation time at a taxpayer-funded “resort” in Otisville, NY or Butner SC.
Thank you for your article.
How about the yeshivos and other organizations peddling for tzedokoh donations with the sales pitch, “You were so generous to give $36 dollars at last year’s campaign. Can you at least match that?” Trouble is, I never heard of that organization or mosad, and certainly never gave them a dime. Is this lying permitted? Is there oversight to insure that Torah law is being followed when collecting tzedokoh? Or are there Rabbonim who permit sheker to raise tzedokoh funds?
If we base our funding on lies, will that trickle down to the talmidim, whose limud haTorah was supported with sheker?
Ok, lying and deceiving is bad, in facts its very bad.
However, you do acknowledge that there are those with concerns about the vaccine and have chose, for now to hold off.
If so, what do you recommend they do?
Refrain from normal necessary activities?
What if they are a doctor their career and livelihood are on the line, should they resign only because some politicians decided that its better to have less providers, only because they can write whatever rules they want?
For sure, vaccinations are good and necessary. But once you acknowledge that its acceptable to refrain from being vaccinated, you must allow people to live. Or else they resort to obtaining those fake vaccine cards so they aren’t denied a normal life.
there has been vigorous debate, particularly among frum people Any debate is an Abomination against the דעת תורה of our venerated גדול הדור HoRav Chaim Kanievsky שליט”א who has clearly Paskened to get this Corona shot in line with ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם so there is nothing to be debating, and anyone who even so much as thinks there is something to debate is nothing more than a בור & arrogant fool.
Shame on you for posting this! I don’t know what your friends are doing? But the people I know are suffering because they are loosing their jobs over this and not being able to go to family simchos from one country to another! Shame on you!!!!
Calm down. Not so simple that it’s ossur. Just as a hypothetical example. When Spain expelled the Jews in 1492 and made them leave all their money behind was it lying to sneak your money out and tell them that you have no money on you?? Answer that one first before you decide that going against these stupid vaccine mandates is lying. Btw I’m fully vaxxed so I’m not an anti vaxxer
True
This goes for all lies in front of kids
“My son is under 4” (to get a discount)
The list goes on and on
What overblown nonsense. Really a churban? Of all the issues in our communities, this one is a churban?
As you’ve admitted, there are perfectly acceptable reasons for some people not to want the accept this vaccine. Those people are being prevented from living their lives in a normal fashion by draconian, illogical, and unreasonable laws. So these are not people trying to deceive a fair and just system. They are trying to find ways to live their normal lives. And this makes for a churban?
What overblown nonsense. Really? A churban? Of all the issues in our communities, this one is a churban?
As you’ve admitted, there are perfectly acceptable reasons for some people not to want the accept this vaccine. Those people are being prevented from living their lives in a normal fashion by draconian, illogical, and unreasonable laws. So these are not people trying to deceive a fair and just system. They are trying to find ways to live their normal lives. And this makes for a churban?
What overblown nonsense. Really? A churban? Of all the issues in our communities, this one is a churban?
As you’ve admitted, there are perfectly acceptable reasons for some people not to want to receive this vaccine. Those people are being prevented from living their lives in a normal fashion by draconian, illogical, and unreasonable laws. So these are not people trying to deceive a fair and just system. They are trying to find ways to live their normal lives. And this makes for a churban?
@ the little I know:
Having spent a little time shmoozing with people in the fundraising industry, it seems that the situation you are describing comes about from the practice of organizations selling their lists to other organizations.
So suppose you gave $36 in 2006 to I don’t know…. Vaad Ha’Ir, and they sold their old list to Kupas HaRabbanim, all the lady making the calls sees is an excel sheet that says in the most recent year she has on file, you gave $36.
I have heard that you can see the exact progression of how many times your info is sold by giving a few dollars to a few different organizations,and misspelling your name in a different way for each one. Some organizations may sell your info to a dozen or more organizations, where others may choose to keep their sauce a secret and not share with anyone.
It’s an unfortunate Golus reality: The more the authority is tyrannical and untruthful to it’s citizens, the more the cunning citizen (the Jew) is untruthful. Please don’t act so surprised. Ask Jews from the Soviet Union how truthful they were with their authorities…
Agree with author
And will take it one step further
The behavior of the the majority of frum communities during this pandemic has been appalling
Fake vaccine cards
No masks putting other peoples lives at risk
0 respect for the rules and expectations of the larger society we are part of
All the talk about middos
Well this pandemic has exposed the sad truth about the majority of frum communities
Middos and decency right out the window
All this letter does, is cause arguments. please focus on having more kavana during davening, if you want to do a mitzvah.
Chillul Hashem. This is an Olam Hafuch. Do we really think we can fool Hashem? Justifying the lies and deceit is understandable and a human response (we dont want to lie, we are forced to because of the evil government decrees), but first ask your Rav if this is Daas Torah. After all we are all Torah true Jews.
According to all science if someone already recovered from Covid he has better resistance than any vaccine – see Pfizer scientists say so themselves on the Project Veritas video – and that the vaccine can ruin that natural immunity, but they deliberately try to suppress that truth from the public.
There’s no צדקות in being a fool. Like the Alter of Kelem said that the 11th commandment is: זייט ניט קיין נער…
This whole plandemic is one big Alma D’shikra, so 100% do whatever you can to escape it.
let’s see where do we start..
1. This virus did not come from a lab
2. This virus is not aerosolized, it comes from infected surfaces (WHO/Fauxy)…
3. …No need to wear a mask (Fauxy 1.0)
4. Lockdown is only for two week to flatten the curve (Fauxy 1.5)
5. Do not treat early, stay at home untill you can’t breathe then go to hospital (FDA/CDC even today…goes against established medicine from the beginning of time).
6. No repurposed antivirals work except $3K Remdesevir at the hospital (FDA)
7. We developed a vaccine (The CDC had to change the definition bof a vaccine)
8. The vaccine will end the pamdemic
9. The vacvine will prevent you form getting COVID
10. The vaccine is very safe (More deaths and injuries that
2sc>If so, what do you recommend they do?
If you do not have a shot (and if you do), you can start by refraining from Unnecessary activities, such as non-emergency travel and parties. It is abnormal that people claiming to follow Torah are less careful about human lives than some politicians.
“including learning to buck the advice and guidance of our leaders and rabbanim…”
Unfortunately, our leaders and rabbanim are being dupped in what psychologist call: Mass formation.
@Chaim_Mair: Very, very well said. 100%!!! (I’m fully vaxxed and recovered, as well, by the way.)
עם נבר תתברר ועם עקש תתפתל
You are nothing less than an idiot. No, I don’t own such cards, frankly I’d be scared to use them. But the governments are restricting freedom, stealing human rights, disregarding basic human autonomy and you dare say that people can’t use these cards?!
You would make a perfect communist government informer, or perhaps a kapo, or serve well in any capacity that requires brainless robotical service for a tyrannical government.
Lying is very bad maskim but there can be a situation where it is mutar and I will try to show that. The possuk in tehillim 18:27 says אם נבר תתברר, ואם עקש תתפתל. “With the pure act purely with the perverse you are wily.” Yaakov Avinu used this possuk to lie to lavan in a few instances. You see that when dealing with liars and disgusting people like deblasio and the rest of the liberals who are forcing these vaccines onto us not bc of health rather for their own personal agendas you act wily. Most of our community has antibodies from the actual virus and even pfizer themselves admitted these are better than the vaccine so why isn’t that enough for them? Bc its not about health its about כסף and gelt. You see these people are liars so with them you have to act accordingly. And dont put everyone in one boat that they are doing this so they can go on vacation. People are losing their jobs over this literally. So for them to go on with their normal lives they have to act wily with wicked people and not only is that not an issue at all its actually the advice of tehillim
When schools force parents to lie, it’s a problem as the school is teaching kids that you need to lie to get by in life. If the one thing that comes out of Covid19 that bothers you is the lying about Vaccination Status, and not the other lies that have come up ok both sides over the past year and a half plus… you are seriously messed up.
Where can I get those vax card?
Something new here on the dishonesty area? Not!
The only thing new here is the way it has negatively impacted the ability for people to go to Eretz Yisroel.
To response to these person who is god police (not god just our kids)
All the generations we had governments that made us a lot of problems and we did what ever to continue life was it creating fake papers or hide as a non jew
Your just trying to label us as liars to our kids
We just trying to go around this crazy mandates that it’s illegal and immoral!!.
If you don’t understand just look back in history not to long ago around 75 years!
So the jews that left russia claimg that they were polish citizens were guilty of lying??? What about their children…
Wrong.
Unfortunately, when governments act the way they are presently, it becomes nessecary to use subterfuge, ways to overcome the tyranny. It’s a means of survival. The governments who should be ashamed, not the people who are attempting to evade these mandates. In Europe children had 15 forged passports because of the need to survive.
KAPO!
the only reason this author is saying what he is saying is simply because he is a selfish monster like everyone else. “im trying to help!”
the nazis also were trying to help.
To escape the nazis by lying is also bad, right?
Now, i know what you are gonna say “how could you compare?”.
I could compare. you don’t think so because you’re selfish and don’t care about others feelings.
P.S: YWN, if you want, i can write a much more convincing letter for your mailbag – if you want……
AH you only want CERTAIN TYPES OF LETTES, right?
i gotcha ;(
Actually the debate among frum Jews has been a lot less than among the non-Jews. Outside of Jewish oriented media, no one notices or cares what the frum community thinks on the matter. In the US, the massive opposition to the vaccine is coming from diverse grounds for multiple reasons (distrust of the people behind the vaccine, distrust over its testing, disprovable claims about safety and efficacy, strong suspicions of ulterior motives on the part of those supporting the vaccine, and religious concerns over the use of human tissue used for development of the vaccine having come from babies who were aborted). None of these have any special “Jewish” angle, and we are not prominent in the protests. The closest thing to a “Jewish” aspect is that the argument on religious exemptions focuses on the same question raised in the 20th century as to whether it it ethical to derive benefit from data derived from German experiments on Jewish prisoners. Also note that the opponents to the vaccine include people working in scientific and medical industries. If one didn’t read “frum” media, one would never know about Jewish opponents to the vaccine, which are probably less common than among goyim.
Also, Covid-19 has less of an impact on us (regardless of what sensational media, such as YWN claim) since we are radically younger than other Americans (a function of having a a higher birth rate), and since Covid-19 primarily kills those older than boomers, and that age cohort (children who were too young to work or fight during World War II) is much diminished in our community due to the holocaust.
Additionally, the author and everyone who agrees with him are anti American, and don’t belong in this country. let them go wherever they want to , but not here in America and make it socialist and communist. THIS IS AMERICA!!
Get the heck outta here!!
and for those say: “you hafta follow the rules!”. YOU ARE ANTI – AMERICAN.
AMERICAS RULES ARE FREEDOM, FREEDOM FREEDOM!!
Go to Israel or a different country if you don’t like America!!
And btw, those who follow the anti-american rules are teaching their children that if you are stronger than someone else you can force any rules on them, and BULLY THEM into whatever you want.
is that what you your children learning. The stronger BULLY the weaker????????????
Yawn.
It’s a good thing I frequent YWN, otherwise I would never know what the latest churban, chillul Hashem, crisis, etc…is. It’s a good thing we have anonymous writers telling us what is right and what is wrong. I see we’ve moved on from smartphones, Orlando, lace top shaitels, chalav yisroel, Dov Hikind, pictures in shidduch resumes, moving to Toms River, Ezras Nashim, honoring goyim at Yeshiva dinners, bachurim selling cannabis, etc etc…
As far as the writers drivel is concerned, keep your sanctimony to yourself.
I guess you would disagree with Yaakov Avinu listening to Rivka Emainu telling Yitzchok Avinu that he was Esav.
I guess you would disagree with Rabbi Akiva teaching Torah birabim, after the “government” said not to.
I guess you would disagree with people learning Torah in secret and then when caught they pull out their dreidel and tell the government officials, oh we were only playing around. Oh those Chashmonoyim mamesh caused a churban. How dare a Yid go against the heiligeh GOVERNMENT!
I guess you would disagree with the Yidden bringing karbanos after the beryonim put a ban on it.
We must always listen to government or those in power (askanim included) dictate! They only have our best interest in mind. Anyone not following in lockstep is causing a churban and is making a chillul Hashem. I hear. Yawn.
I guess most readers will be laughing hysterically when we start seeing posts about a pidyon shvuyim fundraising campaign for the first mindless yidden who are jailed for using fake vaccination cards. I’d rather donate to the Bronx Zoo to help vaccinate the poor monkeys who sadly are susceptible to the virus from unvaccinated visitors. If it saves even one life, its probably a mitzvah to report known cases of fraud.
I haven’t read any responses. But one thing is sure!
This mailbag content as many others was written by yeshivaworlnews author themselves on pure conspiracy, jealousy and hatred as ALWAYS!!
YWN is fake news like CNN and its ilk.
…forgot to add on to #10. Assuming you don’t want to trust FDA’s own VAERS (It takes HCW over a over a half hour to fill out an adverse effect report, so most don’t, but there are more adverse reports in the past two years from this then in its 30-year history), EU’s EudraVigilance and WHO’s VigiAcesss.org are all telling you the same thing: The jabs are very risky.
…Govt. sheker list continued…
11. This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The double-jabbed 30% now in the hospital with Delta as well as 60% who got sick enough to have to stay home would like to disagree. (This is really a pandemic of the untreated.)
12. We do not recognize natural immunity, so they need the jab (Even vax crazy Israel recognizes natural immunity.)
13. The biggest baloney sheker of all: Vax mandates & passports are necessary to protect the vaxed. They keep on repeating it over and over like Joseph Goebbels hoping this lie will eventually sink-in if you hear it enough times – because the vaxed do not spread covid, right? Scientists are pointing out that they are equal if not greater spreaders:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/getting-vaccinated-doesn-t-stop-people-from-spreading-delta
… that being said havig to lie isn’t never something to be proud of. I would try to keep it away from my younger kids and thoroughly explain it to the ones that are old enough to understand that these are very sad times we live in. For all the above, and as many mentioned, this fully passes the:
עם נבר תתברר ועם עקש תתפתל
He already exclaimed he’s not a paragon of truth and honesty. Far from it, in fact! Every Yid must be a paragon of truth and honesty! So obviously he is seriously lacking in his yiddishkeit
The author demands EMES, truthfulness. This is noble, especially when we are being watched (by our children). But then the author signs his/her name deceptively, using the name of a known rov and public speaker in Monsey: “Y. Jacobson – Monsey”. I CALL OUT THE AUTHOR ON THIS DECEPTION!
Rabbi YY Jacobson of Monsey did NOT author this Mailbox letter. Yet, this anonymous author who preaches emes, deceitfully used his name.
Shame on you. You lost all credibility.
Terrible to see from the comments how krum people have become. It’s a whole shitah. Oy oy vey.
Rebbitzen Goldenpickanicerscreenname, who said thats what he meant?!
also, the deception of this all are the people who are yelling all day to take the vax! Why, because everyone now knows that the vax only minimizes covid, so if so , why are they making people quit their jobs if the vax is only to minimize the effects of covid on only the person taking the vax! it doesnt do anything for he people around the guy whos vaxxed! I tt makes no sense! the govt is using it to fearmonger! its disgustiin! and i dont have social media, but ive heard from a lot of peope that if you dare say anything negative about the vax, the post will be taken down, i wonder why? why cant people say that, must be that you want them to take it! there are countless recs of this, in lakewood there was a rec of the oppposition saying how that when murphy loses, theyll drop vax mandates everywhere, and in the rec they can be heard mocking the people by imitating them,”my rights my body”! yes, this is my body, and you arent in charge!