Sinas Chinam III - Surviving Malka Leifer

 

In this series, we are discussing some past events of sinas chinam and most likely Chillul Hashem, as well, and bemoaning the fact that we can’t get them to go away. The most painful thing is that, in all three cases, the primary tool was a blanket distortion of Halacha displayed by people who claim to be the very guardians of Halacha.

The first example was the witch hunt against sincere and concerned people who question the safety and advisability of the new experimental vaccines. At the forefront of this witch hunt stands HRHG Asher Weiss, Shlita, who brought very flawed Halachic arguments to vouch for this dangerous vaccine. Details in my initial post (HERE).

The second example is the anticipated resurgence of a very irresponsible Kol Koreh which is meant to open the door to indiscriminate mesira. Sometimes these measures are called for but other times, or dare I say, most times, they are not called for, and they cause irreversible needless damage. It is driven by a distortion of the mitzvah of לא תעמוד על דם רעיך and misquoting the teshuvos of past Gedolim. This monstrosity is spearheaded by Harav Shmuel Fuerst and has the blessings of quite a few other distinguished people such as Rav Yitzchok Breitowitz, Rav Yitzchok Berkowitz, and Rav Doniel Neustadt. All the links to the halachic rebuttals can be found in my previous post (HERE).

We now arrive at the third and most serious fountain of perpetual sinas chinam that just keeps on flowing. This is the Malka Leifer episode.

For those who are not familiar with the episode, I refer you to the relevant post in my discussion of the Four Horsemen (HERE). This was Horseman number 3. This post is very comprehensive and contains a timeline of events as well as a list of all the halachic conundrums that are involved in this case. In addition, it also spells out some of the prime targets of the Sapper sisters’ sinas chinam campaign. I listed some of these targets as follows:

On the other side of the aisle, people who stood up for due process of law, for basic compassion, and for the kavod of Torah and Halacha and kedushas Eretz Yisrael, and who were basically doing their moral and civic duties, were publicly defamed and maligned. This includes Mrs. Leifer’s legal team, Rav Yitzchak Grossman, Rav Mendel Shafran, Rav Yaakov Litzman and even yours truly.

Okay, this goes back to Sept. 2022. 

The saga finally came to a conclusion in April 2023 when the Australian court convicted Mrs. Leifer on 18 out of 74 90 29 27 counts. Finally, in August of 2023, the sentence was announced. 15 years minus 5.6 years for time served with a possibility for parole after about another 6 years.

Hooray! Now we can all go home (except for Mrs. Leifer) and forget about this whole mess. The poor “victims” need to heal. If nothing else, these “victims” (i.e., accusers) can at least become civilized and stand back from all the motzi shem rah and sinas chinam they have been generating for years. It is no longer relevant.

Once again, wishful thinking. As they say, one cannot have a dialogue with these people.

As we know, Dassi Ehrlich had to come out with her devious and dishonest book in early 2024. As I described in a full series of posts, the book was built on theatrics, half-truths, hypocrisy, misrepresentation of facts, some blatant lies (e.g. that the Adass community supported Malka Leifer and that the women who heard the rumors took no action), plenty of sinas chinam and just as much chillul Hashem. 

The question persists: Was the book really done for altruistic reasons, i.e., to help fight against child sexual abuse, or was it done primarily for the fame and fortune that the girls crave for? 

I analyzed this question in my post about Winners and Losers. My conclusions were that the book is really more about mental illness and personality disorders than it is about sexual abuse. As such, it is not very likely to have much impact on the subject. Its main accomplishment is to lionize Dassi Ehrlich and to demonize the Adass community and her critics. 

For us observant Jews, this is nothing to celebrate.

Sadly, I cannot expect better from Dassi Ehrlich or Ellie Sapper. They both abandoned Judaism. As such, where there is no yiras shamayim, there are no boundaries. As for Nicole Meyer who pretends to be observant, I can try to be dan l’kaf zechus that she was merely an [un]willing accomplice to the book. The general impression I get is that Dassi was the main ringleader to this entire debacle and the other two sisters were beguiled by her vengeful energy.

But, okay, Dassi was working on this book for quite a long time, so she had to see it through to the end. It’s hard to shelve a project even if it’s damaging. But now, once she got it out of her system, do we need even more of this sinas chinam and chillul Hashem?

I guess we do.

As in many works of fiction, it seems like someone bought the movie rights and turned the book into a motion picture. That “someone” is Stan Streaming. This is an Australian online streaming service for movies, online TV, sport events and documentaries. This is the same assortment of garbage from all ratings levels that you get on modern airplane monitors. 

Stan is apparently the fourth biggest such trash provider in Australia. It is a subscription-based service like Netflix. Unlike many of these, it does not even offer a 7-day free trial period. 

To somebody like me, this would not make a difference. Stan streaming is geo-blocked. This means that you can only see their content if you actually live in Australia. It won’t work anywhere else, unless one uses the common VPN trick to access an Australian server. My Rimon filter does not allow VPNs. 

Stan uses a common title opener for their string of documentaries which is “Revealed”. Hence, in October 2025, they released a “documentary” about the Malka Leifer affair named, “Revealed: Surviving Malka Leifer.” It is only available on Stan. Hence, it is only available in Australia. I cannot get to it even if I was foolish enough to pay for a subscription. The most I can access is a 1.5-minute-long trailer clip on YouTube. You can see it HERE.

So, what does this say to us (or, what does it say to me)? 

This says that this “documentary” is not intended for the Jewish community. Certainly not the world-wide Jewish community. It is not available on any public forum, nor anywhere outside of Australia, so all the rhetoric about raising awareness of sexual abuse and how victims should speak out and fight for justice is all hot air. It is not meant to reach any genuine active or potential victims, especially Jewish ones.

It is intended for the entertainment of the largely anti-semitic Australian public who are willing to pay for it. More immigrant Islamic r^pists will watch it than will law-abiding Jews. The Sapper sisters are pursuing fame and fortune, not “justice” and deterrence.

As for the trailer itself, there are three things that it tells me. One is that the documentary is going to have at least as much motzi shem rah and sinas chinam as the book. Secondly, that Nicole Meyer, the “observant” one, is a key player in this venture. I can’t be dan l’kaf zechus anymore. The third, I will mention in a few more paragraphs.

I assume that this documentary is a lot like the book and there is not a whole lot new that I would learn from it. I still want to see it. Why?  

I want to check out if this is a “journalistic” documentary or a “propagandist” documentary.

What is the difference?

A journalistic documentary is meant to convey facts without being slanted. If the subject is controversial, the documentary at least makes an attempt to get the perspective of both sides. If there are opponents and critics to an issue, the opponents are given the opportunity to make their case. Even if they don’t get “equal time” they get some time. If nothing else, there needs to be some measure of pushback against the claims of the protagonists. This is called balanced reporting. 

A propogandist documentary is blatantly one-sided. No attempt is made to contact those being maligned for any kind of balance. All the protagonists’ claims go unchallenged. It is intended to sway peoples’ opinions.

The book In Bad Faith was Dassi’s personal project. It reflects her own sentiments, so there is no reason to expect any kind of balance. But this documentary is produced by an independent producer, one Adam Kamien. It’s his second major work. The first one dealt with an isolated event that occurred 45 years earlier, so it does not have any propaganda value. Can we say the same now?

Firstly, I can say this. It is certain that the documentary has choice things to say about Mrs. Leifer, her legal counsel, Adass community members and Rabbi Litzman. It’s also a safe bet that if Mrs. Leifer, her lawyers, or Rabbi Litzman were contacted for a statement, that they would decline to respond. Still, you can never know for sure, so it deserves a try. Regardless, I know one thing for certain. In terms of uninvolved analysts of the episode, there is nobody more critical and outspoken than I am. And nobody attempted to contact me for any perspective.

The sad truth is, I don’t need to guess the answer to my question. This is the third thing that I was able to see from the 1.5-minute trailer. And it comes out of the mouth of none other than Nicole Meyer. But, since it deserves a hard look, it is too much to elaborate in this post. It will have to wait for a future post.

You may ask, how do I even know about this documentary? 

The answer is that, for this documentary which is only accessible to the non-Jews and secular folks in Australia, Nicole Meyer, the “observant” one, had to fly all the way to New York to promote it. She arranged a presentation in a popular shul in Monsey sponsored by Zvi Gluck and the Amudim organization. The name of the shul is Beis Medrash Ohr Chaim and it is presided by Rabbi Daniel Coren, Shlita.

Interestingly, Rabbi Coren is a signatory on the ill-conceived Kol Koreh that I wrote about in my previous post. In his brief contribution to the presentation about the 1:23:00 mark, he totally contradicts its message. Go figure.

Anyhow, the event took place on March 8, 2026, which is close to three months ago. The entire event was videoed and posted onto YouTube. It lasts 1 hour and 52 minutes. You can see it HERE. 

I don’t remember if I stumbled on it or if it was sent to me. Regardless, since I follow All Things Leifer, I viewed the whole thing and even took notes. The fact that it was misrepresented as some kind of a Torah-diga endeavor was appalling. It was just another one-sided firing squad of more lies, motzi shem rah, and sinas chinam. 

I plan to elaborate on this in the upcoming posts.

I explained in countless previous posts exactly why the Sapper sisters as well as any of their supporters are guilty of mesira l’mehadrin and gonev ish u’mecharo. The supporters may all be passive participants, but the Sapper sisters and some others carried out these capital offenses with their very hands, hearts, and souls. And it doesn’t matter how much the ladies were truly molested by Mrs. Leifer until 2006 (if at all). Any Jew who sincerely considers himself a shomer Torah u’mitzvos will agree with me. 

This applies to Nicole (Nechama) Sapper Meyer, no matter how holy a sheitel she wears and how tzniusdig are her clothes. She saw everything I wrote since 2016 and she always knew that it is all forbidden. She has never claimed to have asked any recognized posek whether, in her case, it is permitted to report a Jew living in Israel to Australian authorities and to actively facilitate an extradition of a Jew away from Eretz Yisrael. No recognized posek has ever sanctioned it and she has not named one. She cannot claim, “I didn’t know it’s forbidden” or “a Beis Din heard the case and ruled she should be extradited”.

As such, there is no justification to give a moser and gonev nefesh any kind of platform whatsoever in any Jewish setting. And certainly not to help proliferate all the lies, motzi shem rah, sinas chinam, chillul Hashem, and the actual blood libels that she is telling the sonei Yisrael. Anybody who does so is obviously a supporter of these horrendous capital crimes.

Regrettably, this includes Kol Koreh supporter Rabbi Daniel Coren and, even more regrettably, Amudim Director Rabbi Zvi Gluck. I sent both of them emails detailing what the problem is and what the sinas chinam is and implored them to cut it out. Nobody responded.

One cannot have a dialogue with these people.

Until this event, I thought a lot higher of Rabbi Gluck. I thought he was different than all those other, self-righteous, fanatical CSA advocates. I thought he used his head instead of his emotions. It pains me to see him prove he has fallen to the same sitra achara as the rest of them.

Those emails were not sent in confidence. I want to review them in the coming posts.

I still haven’t seen the “documentary” and don’t think I ever will. About a month ago, I sent an email to all three Sapper sisters asking them if there is any way I can actually see the documentary, preferably without having to pay for it. I was surprised that one of the ladies (not telling which one) actually responded to my inquiry. She wrote:

Are you actually joking?

My response:

Yes, I really want to see it. Preferably without having to pay for the privilege.

Why do you doubt me? I read Dassi's book cover to cover, didn't I? (I paid for that.)

What have I ever joked about (besides some well-placed wisecracks)??

I haven’t heard from any of them since.

To close this post, I want to reprint the Storyline blurb from one of the hosting sites.

[Surviving] Malka Leifer explores a harrowing abuse scandal in Melbourne. Sisters Nicole, Dassi and Elly grew up adhering to the structures of their ultra-orthodox Jewish community. Isolated from the evils of the world around them, their fate is predetermined: arranged marriage, children, homemaking. In 2008, allegations surface that the three sisters were abused by their headmistress Malka Leifer. With a public relations disaster on their hands, members of the local community allegedly help Leifer flee, with her boarding a plane to Israel with three of her eight children in the dead of night. For the sisters, the escape sets in motion a decade of anger, frustration, and determination to bring Leifer back to face her crimes. When they are finally successful, having stared down pressure from their community, political corruption and endless legal manoeuvring, the question is: at what price?

I have been asking this very question since 2016. 

Sinas Chinam II - A Time to Throw Stones and a Time to Gather Stones

 

In my previous post about vaccines, I quoted a very confrontational statement uttered by HRHG Asher Weiss. He was referring to the “anti-vax” camp and he said: One cannot have a dialogue with those people, they are so bent on what they believe.

I don’t think he will ever realize how double-sided, this came across. I mentioned then that there are those who tried to engage with Rav Asher Weiss and they were met with the exact same attribute. One cannot have a dialogue with him, he is so bent on what he believes.

One such notable person is Rabbi Chananya Weissman. He has a Rumble channel which display his shiurim and a Substack channel, as well. Amazingly, he posted a lengthy article on the exact same day that I posted mine (May 6) and, in his no-pulling-punches style, said more or less the exact same thing. 

You can see his Substack post HERE.

Note - A while ago, he posted a short video clip that showed him actually confronting Rav Asher Weiss face to face. Rav Weiss summarily brushed him off.

In a subsequent Substack post, Rabbi Weissman referred his readers to my post from May 6. I appreciate that and am happy to do the same for him.

I need to point out one other thing about Rav Weiss’s statement that “One cannot have a dialogue with these people.” This totally misses the script. The game is not to have a “dialogue” like, “Do you think it will rain?”, “Well, yes, it’s been a bit overcast lately.” The game is to have a debate where you prove your point and prove the other side wrong. Just saying “This is a safe vaccine, as far as we can know”, “what can theoretically happen in the future”, “all these absurd theories” just doesn’t quite cut it. 

Harav Weiss is a dayan, posek and Talmid Chacham and his job is to be able prove his shitos and uncover valid flaws in opposing ones. On this topic (and, I dare say, on the Techeiles topic, as well) he falls quite short.

It doesn’t end with the subject of vaccines. This sentiment about not being able to have a dialogue with people who push an agenda is a recurring theme and runs central to this series of posts about sinas chinam. And so, we move on to our second topic. This is infamous Kol Koreh to encourage reporting suspected abusers to police which is spearheaded by Rav Shmuel Fuerst and social worker Dovid J. Nyer.

The Kol Koreh was first published in 2015 with 107 signatures and shortly after in 2016 with 108. Basically, the Kol Koreh said that if anybody is even only suspicious of child abuse, he should go immediately to law enforcement and not even bother to ask any shailos.

I immediately took the Kol Koreh to task for what I called “the crudeness of the letter, how indiscriminate it is, how it caters to a prevalent presumption of guilt and how it misrepresents Halacha.” The Kol Koreh was saying to go to police as a first resort and not a last resort and did not even try to distinguish if it was talking about an active “911” situation or after the fact. Just do it and ask questions later.

Shlomo HaMelech tells us that there is a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones, but Reb Dovid J. Nyer, Rav Shmuel Fuerst and about 100 other Rabanim were telling us otherwise. To them, it is always best to always throw stones. They have absolutely no regard for who is going to get hurt the most and who will get hurt the least.

I promptly launched a series of posts to explain how mesira really works and the relevant Halachos. I expressed all of the above in 2015 in these two posts:

Achas L'Maala V'Sheva L'Matta: Mesira VII: The Heter Meah Rabbanim - The Genie is Back

Achas L'Maala V'Sheva L'Matta: Mesira VIII: Blood Labels

I wishfully thought the matter was taken off the table as of then. Not so. After a lengthy quiet spell, it was republished a third time in 2022. The text of the Kol Koreh was exactly the same but there were three notable differences in 2022. 

1. The list had grown to a claim of 200 names, although there were really only 185 appearing. There were two duplicates and at least two names of signatories that had retracted bringing a real counting to 181.

2. The names were not displayed as signatures but only in print.

3. The proclamation was prefaced by a full-page article bent on “selling the product”. Astonishingly, the article tried to explain not only why a Rav does not need to be consulted before a serious action, but why it is better not to consult one. Can you believe this??

A subsequent investigation revealed that when the Kol Koreh was reprinted in 2022, none of the original Rabbanim were consulted to confirm that they endorse the article (which their signature endorses ipso facto). Some whose names appeared had even passed away in the interim. These certainly did not endorse the article. As such, there are no grounds to assume that even the new signers were shown the article.

I wrote about these problems in detail in this post:

Achas L'Maala V'Sheva L'Matta: Mesira XX?? - One Size does not Fit All

In this post, I indicated that I emailed Reb Dovid J. Nyer directly and asked him to explain these issues. He did not respond then or ever since.

One cannot have a dialogue with these people.

To put the matter to rest, I wrote a sub-series I called the Four Horsemen of the Kol Koreh Apocalypse. These were four scenarios where most Torah observant people would concur that calling law enforcement is not the most productive thing to do. 

I think the most powerful was Horseman 2. This was the time a reporter posed as a victim of molestation and asked 27 Israeli Rabbanim if she should report the molester to police. 21 out of the 27 (77%) advised her against it because it was likely to cause more harm than good. Seventy-seven percent!

At that point, I had been writing about this topic for over seven years and had received absolutely no serious pushback from anyone. I don’t even know how anybody who claims to be observant could push back. I wishfully hoped we have seen the demise of this preposterous Kol Koreh.

Fast forward to now - another six years later. Again, we would expect the main players to be older and wiser and to stop chasing their tails. Not so. Shortly after Pesach, a good friend of mine forwarded to me an email that he received from the organizer of this venture. The email respectfully requested him to sign onto this Kol Koreh referring to him as “the esteemed Rov”. 

This friend is not a community Rabbi or any type of a public figure. He currently serves as the Mashgiach Ruchni at an American yeshiva in the Jerusalem area for English speaking boys who do not have a strong background in learning. This Yeshiva is not very well known, nor is this particular friend. He said he had no idea why he was approached. As you may guess, he is on my blog email list and is well versed on my stance on this topic.

This obviously indicates that another printing is in the offing. He hasn’t given up. The email was an attempt to “sell the product” and encourage him to sign. It gave an overview of its purpose “reporting reasonable suspicions of child abuse promptly to civil authorities to deter abuse.” This sounds good until you read the fine print (or lack thereof).

His email claimed, “This kol koreh was published and republished over the years and as more Rabbonim signed on in Jewish media as well as Mishpacha Magazine, Ami Magazine etc with 200 charedi rabbonim signed. I'd like to republish in frum media sources etc with at least 100 more charedi rabbonim joining.”

Two comments:

(1) To this day he is still peddling the lie that 200 Rabbanim ever signed this Kol Koreh. I debunked this claim in my 2022 post.

(2) He is looking for another 100 “charedi rabbonim”. Even though my friend is a special person, a mashpiah and is definitely charedi, if this is where Dovid Nyer needs to search to get signatures, he is way-y-y short of his goal. 

The email gave a short list of those who previously signed. Here is an excerpt:  Rabbonim Shmuel Fuerst, Yitzchok Breitowitz, Yakov Bender, Doniel Neustadt, Kalman Epstein, Yechiel Perr zatzal, Yitzchok Berkovits, and about another eight names. One of those names belongs to a very prominent Rov in Woodmere even though his name does not appear on the Kol Koreh list! Note again Rabbi Doniel Neustadt who refused to sign the initial printing and when the last one came out, his name was shown twice. I wonder where he stands now. 

He also mentioned some names of new “recruits” from overseas. Eight names, one from Moscow, one from Berlin, one from Ireland, one from Amsterdam and only four others who I never heard of and don’t know where they are from. Most European charedi Jews are in England, Belgium and France. This list seems very thin. 

To enlighten the recipient of what he is being asked to sign on to, the writer provided a link to an exact copy of the previous 2022 printing with the introductory article and the exact same text version of the Kol Koreh. No changes and no indication that there will be any changes.

In my previous posts denouncing this Kol Koreh I stressed that the problems are inherent in the current language of the text. I went so far as to suggest how to modify the text to make it more complicit with Torah standards. This email is clearly indicating that there is no intention to update the text. I find this very odd because it is clear that many who could have signed and who may have signed, did not do so because of the indiscriminate language of the text. I know some who even retracted. So, fixing the language only stands to make this text more palatable to reluctant supporters and to obtain more signatures. It would be a win-win.

Evidently, one cannot have a dialogue with these people.

Finally, the email is respectfully signed by Dovid Nyer, LCSW. I believe this is the exact same Dovid J. Nyer from previous incarnations. If my math is right, he must be about 42 years old by now – בן ארבעים לבינה. Wouldn't you think?

And yet, he is at it again. What for?

It was already republished twice, and last time, it [falsely] boasted the support of 200 Rabbonim. Didn’t that do the trick? If yes, just reprint it again as is. Why look for more shepsilach? If not, why didn't it work?

In either case, how is adding another 100 mediocre Rabbonim – if it’s even doable – going to make a difference? Did Reb Dovid J. Nyer learn anything from his previous mistakes?

To investigate, I fired off another email to Reb Dovid J. Nyer, LCSW on April 28. In it, I asked him eight questions, as follows:

1. When do you think it will be published?

2. In which publications do you plan to publish it?

3. Do you intend to modify the text to what it should say or will you continue to leave it as is?

4. Are you going to again misrepresent how many Rabbonim signed it or will you give an honest number this time?

5. Are you again going to insert duplicate names, people who retracted, people who never really gave their consent, or people who have since died?

6. Are you going to check through the existing names to make certain that these Rabbonim are (a) still alive and (b) still living in the community and holding the posts that you place them in? 

7. Also, are you going to go through all the previous names to ensure that (a) they are still on board with your Kol Koreh as written and (b) they endorse the promotional article you never showed them up front?

8. Are you going to attach new promotional material and deceptively make it look like all the signatories are aware of this material and endorse whatever it says like the gneivas daas you did last time?

I topped it off, “Please update me on all of this.”

As of this writing, I am still waiting for a reply. I am perplexed because they are not very hard questions. It looks like I have to agree with HRHG Rav Asher Weiss on one thing, at least.

One cannot have a dialogue with these people. They are so bent on what they believe.

Sinas Chinam I - Ghosts of the Past

Not surprisingly, I barely post. For one, writing takes a lot of input and energy and I don’t have an endless supply of either one. Secondly, there is not much interest in my subject matter.

Everybody is concerned about the fluctuating war and the impending, albeit elusive, geulah, the shrinking dollar and their own shrinking bank accounts, and the health of the Belzer Rebbe, Shlita. I have nothing to contribute to these things. 

All the ghosts of “Yutzmich past” have retired to their crypts. Yet occasionally, some of them spring back to haunt us even now in the midst of all our anxiety. As such, a few long-retired issues that I have written about profusely, which I hoped were buried forever, have recently come back to life. These issues are:

• The Covid Vaccines
  
  
• The Kol Koreh about reporting suspected abusers
  
  
• The Malka Leifer episode

I believe I found a common denominator all three of these ancient topics. This is that they all involve some level of sinas chinam which doesn't want to go away. The recent resurgence of these topics is proving this point. Clearly, this sinas chinam needs to stop. It is one thing that is delaying the "impending geula". As such, I feel a need to discuss all three of them.

in this post, I will cover the subject of Vaccines.

To briefly recoup, I have felt that any type of medication needs to be proven and time-tested to be safe, effective and necessary (meaning there are no better alternatives). This applies especially to vaccines because vaccines, as opposed to remedial medicines, are given to people who currently are not even sick.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

My personal research brought me to the conclusion that the MRNA vaccines that were promoted during the Covid hoax did not pass any of these three requirements. When I say “research”, I mean hearing out the opinions of a wide range of medical experts (i.e., doctors), both pro and con, and analyzing the available data that was made public at the time. All this coupled with common sense. It did not come from hearsay or bubbe ma’ases.

My position hasn’t budged.

It is important to note that there was also a strong representation of Rabbanim and poskim in our camp. I wrote about all of this at length in my original post on the subject from January of 2021.

One very outspoken posek who was not in my camp is HRHG Asher Zelig Weiss, Shlita.

I have a bit of a connection with HRHG Weiss being that I attend his weekly shiur in Har Nof. In general, I admire him greatly and I am blown away by his yiras Shamayim, the breadth and depth of his knowledge, his constant writing and publishing, and his involvement in tzarchei tzibur. This includes his availability to the public. I can’t imagine that he gets much sleep.  

I consider him a Rebbe of mine on conventional Halacha and, of course, an inspiration of middos tovos.

That said, there are two topics on which I did my own research and heard out dissenting opinions and cannot agree with him. One is the topic of Techeiles which I wrote a full series about, and the other is the aforementioned vaccine controversy.

Rav Weiss has always been a strong proponent of the Covid vaccines. He was there straight out of the starting gate. You can see his drasha HERE.

He took care to stress that this is his personal opinion and he acknowledged “it's not very comfortable because I know that not everybody will like what I say. However, I always express myself in a respectful manner. I have no reason in the world that…I don't like to argue and to dispute and to be mezalzel in others.” Yet, he did not appear to come across very receptive of other viewpoints. 

As I wrote in my original 2021 post, Rav Weiss strongly maintained that his consultation with “doctors” and professionals in the field convinced him that the benefits are high and the risks are low. As such, the benefits outweigh the risks. I challenged that assertion up front. You can see the details there. 

Of course, Harav Weiss was not oblivious to the situation of controversy. He talks about the Halachic procedures of conflicting opinions and of following the majority or the most prestigious doctors. As part of the shiur, Rav Weiss goes on a tirade quoting numerous sources from Shas that we are enjoined to rely on doctors and professional medical opinions to come to Halachic conclusions. 

However, there are several major flaws in his presentation:

1. From all these sources which refer to rofim (doctors), who is to say that we were not referring to Jewish doctors who understand the halachic ramifications of their medical opinions?

2. All of the quoted sources in Shas and poskim are referring to a doctor’s advice concerning a specific individual who is suffering from some ailment. The doctor(s) examined the patient and understand his or her unique circumstances and prescribe treatment accordingly. The sources do not refer to global medical opinions involving the collective public.

3. The term used to denote the medical professional is a rofeh, not a doctor.

What is the difference between a rofeh and a doctor?

A doctor is a person who has a doctorate in medicine. This means that he studied and mastered the science of medicine and knows it quite well. It does not mean that he ever treated anybody.

A rofeh is a healer, not a student of medicine. He is one who actually practices medicine and treats people and knows what treatments work and what doesn’t and how to vary them for each individual case.  

In short, a “doctor” knows the science of medicine. A rofeh, or healer, actually practices it.

In today’s world, where most doctors specialize, it says that they can only be considered a Halachic rofeh, healer, in their field of expertise. As such, one who went through basic medical school and received an M.D. and then went on to specialize in ophthalmology may be called a doctor, but he is only a rofeh for ophthalmology. Same for a dermatologist, urologist and all the others. 

Certainly, they all learned the basics of cardiology in medical school, but if one does not practice in this field and treat people with heart ailments, he may still be called a doctor, but he cannot be called a healer. He does not get the Halachic status of a “rofeh” outside his field.

What’s more, in the days of old, a rofeh/doctor was primarily a pharmacologist. His expertise was to determine which herbs and potions work for what type of problem and to know exactly how to prepare it and administer it. Once again, the Talmudic “doctor” was one who knows how to diagnose and treat the problem at hand and for a specific patient.

Aside from the fact that immunology and contagious diseases is a specialized field with a limited amount of practitioners who are qualified to give any opinion, all of this can only apply to a known ailment and known remedies. None of this can possibly be applicable to the “new” Covid-19 and the untested new-fangled vaccinations that the pharmaceutical companies were pushing.

Lastly, any medical professional’s advice can only be valid if the professional is totally objective and impartial in his opinion and not subject to any shochad (financial gain) or duress or coercion. This disqualifies anyone funded by a pharmaceutical company and anybody threated to lose their platform or license.

In light of all the above, there were not many professionals on the “pro-vax” side, if any at all, that met the above qualifications. On the flip-side, those who were actively treating patients with zinc, hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and the like, and who had no personal stake in these medicines, and can vouch for their success, do indeed qualify. To be sure, none of these true healers were bribed or coerced to speak up in favor of hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin. I can assure you of that. 

Despite his claim to have been thoroughly versed by the most qualified professionals, he seemed to be oblivious to all the flaws and to much of the opposing viewpoints. What’s more, he looks to be a bit hostile. 

Let’s look at what he said from about the 54:00 mark. Then I will comment. I will print his remarks in blue and emphasize key phrases. My comments will be in dark red.

54:18 - So, all these absurd theories that the vaccine might cause infertility and it might have long-term effects, one cannot say with certainty there will be no long-term effects because how would we know? But that is true with every new medicine that every new medicine or medical procedure might have long-term effects. 

54:40 - But we always try to strike the right balance between what is needed now and what might theoretically happen in the future. As I explained before, it's very unreasonable that the Covid vaccine will have long-term effects… 

55:35 – [but] this is a safe vaccine in as far as we could know and that is the opinion of rov minyan and binyan of chachmei haumos. I wrote a letter many months ago before Covid regarding the other vaccines to one of the gedolim and I argued even if the anti-vaxxers would have some merit but if this is the opinion of the establishment of rov minyan and rov binyan, we could rely on שומר פתאים השם. What is a person supposed to do if not follow the mumchim (experts)?

56:27 - There were always doctors that had different opinions but if that is the opinion of the establishment, שומר פתאים השם.

Let’s analyze:

So, all these absurd theories that the vaccine might cause infertility

Comment: Are they absurd when stated by people like Dr. Robert Malone who is credited at developing the mRNA vaccine? What’s more, the people who are allegedly dying are typically aged 50 plus. The ones who need to be concerned about infertility are aged below 50. If the below 50 population isn’t dying, what justifies the risk?

one cannot say with certainty there will be no long-term effects because how would we know?

Comment: But, didn’t he tell us seven minutes ago (47:25) that the long-term risk from this vaccine is totally without any reasonable חשש? 

 

that every new medicine or medical procedure might have long-term effects.

Comment: Most new medicines go through rigorous testing that takes years. New medical procedures are almost never carried out without a situation where known procedures did not work and with full uninhibited informed consent. New medicines or medical procedures are never mandated – until now.

might theoretically happen in the future

Comment: At that time, the “future” wasn’t here yet, but when it does indeed happen in the “future”, it is in no way theoretical.

rov minyan and binyan of chachmei haumos.

Comment: Aside from the fact that we cannot listen to any chachmei haumos who are biased, I wonder how many chachmei haumos from the opposing camp he even heard out. How did he arrive at his consensus of “rov”?

Also, if rov minyan and binyan of medical professionals can only say that this vaccine is safe “as far as we could know” how is this saying that it is safe?

I wrote a letter many months ago before Covid regarding the other vaccines to one of the gedolim and I argued even if the anti-vaxxers would have some merit

Comment: This blew me away. Firstly, it seems like he has been at odds with “anti-vaxxers” for quite some time. From this conversation, it seems that he was having a dispute with another “gadol” which he does not identify. Who was this gadol? He does not tell us what was the position of the other gadol, but it clearly looks like he was trying to convince him of his viewpoint. What does the other gadol counter with? Did he succeed to convince the other gadol?

We’ll never know.

Also, this is before Covid. Before thousands of people were dying of anything. There was no crushing need. Why does shomer pesayim Hashem apply and overrule שב ואל תעשה עדיף?

What is a person supposed to do if not follow the mumchim?

Comment: First we need to hear out the “mumchim”. All of them.

but if that is the opinion of the establishment

Comment: By “the establishment” he is referring to the likes of Anthony Fauci, Albert Bourla, and Bill Gates, none of whom took the vaccine themselves.

Within a year of this exchange, I was able to update with much more disparaging news. You can see it all in this post and this one.

At the same time, Harav Weiss was admitting telling us we need to take the booster shots since the “effective”, life-saving vaccines don’t work past six months! Still, not a word about taking conventional medications or even to take vitamin C and D.

In any case, all this was 4 to 5 years ago. Since then, the pandemic petered out and much has been uncovered to give some merit to the “anti-vaxxers”. One would assume that we all acquired some wisdom over the years and that there would be no need for Harav Weiss to proliferate the sinas chinam that he bitterly complained about in his initial shiur (57:08).

Nevertheless, last month we find that Morenu Harav Asher Weiss, Shlita, participated in the Chemed Medical Conference. This clip is dated April 21, 2026. you can see it HERE.

29:23 - Q. Without getting into specifics, a lot of politics have crept into the way medicine is practiced. Vaccinations are to be administered. Does this affect the neemanus harofim?

29:35 - A. I think in previous years we spoke already about trusting science and trusting doctors. To my dismay, since COVID broke out, we have needed to deal with all different kinds of strange opinions and philosophies who cast doubt in medicine, conventional medicine, antivaxxers...

31:15 - So, we had to deal with these antivaxxers and antivaccinations and I came to the conclusion you can't even have a dialogue with these people. They are so bent on what they believe. But neemanus in rofim is clear in Halacha, [618] in Shu”A (Orach Chaim) dealing with Yom kipper who needs to eat. Clear Halachos. treatment. You consult doctors and you rely on what doctors say...

32:46 - ...and I think it is so important as yes we need to trust medicine mainstream science and if you won't trust doctors then you are in a very unsafe and very hazardous place. 

I cannot really blame him for discussing this subject now. He didn’t bring it up. It was the MC at the conference. But, since it was brought up, and he did respond to it, I need to voice my objections. 

It pains me that after all this time, HRHG Rav Asher Weiss, Shlita is still so trusting of the corrupt medical establishment and so antagonistic to sincere people who are raising an alarm. It doesn’t seem to be as respectful a manner as he claimed in his earlier shiur or that he tries not to be mezalzel in others.

we had to deal with these antivaxxers and anti-vaccinations

Comment: He gives the impression that “anti-vaxxers”, as he calls them, are just a bunch of misinformed Neanderthal luddites or a brainwashed cult who have no other agenda but to make trouble.

I came to the conclusion you can't even have a dialogue with these people. They are so bent on what they believe.

Comment: With all due respect, במחילת כבוד, I am aware of a number of people who tried to “deal with” Harav Asher Weiss, Shlita. They came to the conclusion that you cannot have a dialogue with him. He is so bent on what he believes.

[618] in Shu”A (Orach Chaim) dealing with Yom kipper who needs to eat

Comment: He seems to have forgotten Yoreh Deah 155:1 which says that any non-Jewish doctor who has a financial interest cannot be trusted, as well as Choshen Mishpat 37:1 that disqualifies testimony from even any Jew who has anything to gain (or avoid losing).

if you won't trust doctors then you are in a very unsafe and very hazardous place.

Comment: The “anti-vaxxers” are the ones who heard out Dr. Zev Zelenko, Z”L (Chareidi), Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Ryan Cole, Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Harvey Risch (Shomer Shabbos), Dr. Simone Gold (proudly Jewish), Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Retzef Levi (Israeli), and others. We saw the VAERS reports and the blood clots exposed by Alabama embalmer Richard Hirschman (no relation and seemingly not Jewish) and funeral director John O’Looney. We saw Tiffany Dover  and hundreds of athletes collapse. There is no indication that Harav Weiss crossed paths with any of these personalities.

We believe that if one blindly trusts “doctors” who have no yiras shamayim, and who are biased, sold out and compromised, you are in a very unsafe and hazardous place. 

We live in an imperfect world and what goes around, comes around.

Identity Crisis

Many of us who read A Tzaddik in Our Time, the fascinating biography of the great Tzadik, Harav Aryeh Levin, ZTL, are inspired by the story of the Goral HaGra – the Vilna Gaon’s “draw”. 

As of November 29, 1947, the settlements of Gush Etzion were isolated and blockaded by Arab marauders. In January 1948, a group of 35 Palmach fighters set out on a mission to penetrate the blockade and to deliver supplies and medicine to the besieged Jewish settlers. Greta Thunberg was not one of them. Before they could sneak through, the group was spotted and attacked by the vicious Arabs. Every single one of them perished in the battle. Twelve of them were mutilated beyond recognition.

These were the days before forensic identification techniques, such as dental records (if these martyrs had any) and DNA profiles. There was no scientific way to determine the identity of any of the twelve bodies. The Chief Rabbi, Rav Zvi Pesach Frank, ZT”L, was consulted and, for lack of any natural, earthly solution, he determined no alternative but to rely on Divine assistance. Hence, he called upon Rav Aryeh Levin and some other Rabbanim to undertake a Goral HaGra. 

The Goral HaGra is a Kabbalistic method of following a preordained method to access a random pasuk in Tanach, and to draw conclusions from what this special pasuk says to us. I am sure it predates the Vilna Gaon but, for some reason, he gets all the credit.

Indeed, Rav Aryeh Levin carried out the procedure and, in a miraculous fashion, each one of the pasukim contained a reference to a specific member of the fallen. You can get more details of the story HERE.

Fast forward a mere 76 years and we are now, both sadly and happily, seeing bodies of fallen Jews being transported to us out of Gaza courtesy of those who murdered them. All of these bodies need to be positively identified. As such, they are immediately transferred to the Abu Kabir forensic institute to be positively identified using natural scientific methods. We know that the standard methods are to compare dental records and/or DNA profiles. As it stands, B”H, within a matter of hours, we are getting absolute results. No Goral HaGra needed.

Is this a good thing or a bad not so good thing?

What is preferable – DNA profiling or Goral HaGra? Moreover, what is more reliable? Why aren’t we doing the Goral HaGra instead, even on our current victims?

The obvious answer is לא בשמים היא. We are not permitted to rely on a Bas Kol or any Heavenly sign as long as there is any empirical alternative. This sort of tells us that if we have resources such as DNA profiling at our disposal, it’s a “mitzva” to make use of them. Also, it indicates that we are authorized to rely on the results.

אין לדיין אלא מה שעיניו רואות.

In some of my previous posts from July and August 2019 (see all the posts HERE), I advocated the use of DNA profiling for any dilemma that it can help resolve. I believe that even if the DNA test results will force us to classify a person as a mamzer, we are obligated to use it. 

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote on August 25, 2019:

In better times, when there are no real witnesses, HKBH takes over. He gave us the sotah waters to check out an accused adulteress. The mahn would tell us who the slave belonged to and reveal other secrets. The Amud HaEish was like an x-ray machine. The ark of the covenant told us which of Shaul’s descendants must die and the ark of Noach told us which animals did not crossbreed. The Torah “understood” that there won’t be human witnesses to sins done in private and it gave us some divine assistance.

With all the falsehood and deceit that characterizes our generation, HKBH is beginning to level the playing field. We haven’t gotten back the sotah waters, the mahn or urim v’tumim. But HKBH gave us photography and surveillance, audio and video recording, fingerprints and DNA mapping. It must be here for a reason. לא בשמים היא !

We cannot ignore modern technology. I think we need to embrace it and work with it and not against it.

I may not have fully substantiated my position, but my primary motivation is that honesty is the best policy. In other words, if the facts are true, then the facts are true. What is, is. The seal of HKBH is emess – truth, and he doesn’t want us to hide it and sweep it under the rug. 

Yes, the truth hurts but falsehood hurts worse. 

Clearly, one of the Torah’s intentions for the decree of mamzerus is to deter people (especially married women) from fooling around and destroying their marriages and relationships. It’s for the greater good even though there is a steep price to the seemingly fault-free offspring.

Seemingly?

In a more recent post from August of 2024, I discussed the concepts of gilgulim (reincarnation) and tikun ha’neshama and I brought down two anecdotal sources, including an embedded video, presented by two NDE survivors, that claim that a person’s soul chooses the family that he or she will be born into and the ordeals he or she will have to undergo. 

Bluntly, this means that if someone was born a mamzer, they “knew” about it “up front” and accepted the challenge. It was pre-ordained. If so, why circumvent it by covering the truth? It may be that such a thing can actually hamper a person’s tikun. Perhaps, sparing the person from the inherent (literally) shame and ostracization is doing him or her a grave injustice!

In those previous posts, I deliberated on whether to consider DNA profiling as absolute eidus or merely an umdenah d’mukchach (or a siman muvhak). In recent years, however, I have become a more ardent believer in DNA profiling. I am ready to upgrade it to eidus gamur.

I have allowed myself to watch a number of forensic science documentaries. Assuming these documentaries are factual, then DNA is uncannily accurate. The clips show how today’s DNA profiling has helped solve numerous cold-case homicides. With this, the detectives were finally able to identify the true culprits and, in many cases, to exonerate others who were wrongly convicted. 

Other clips have shown how people who know very little about their family background and even who have no idea who their biological fathers are to discover the truth. Sometimes the findings were pleasant, a relief, and closure and brought about reunions with hitherto unknown relatives. Of course, in other cases, the results uncovered hidden secrets and brought shame and disaster. Still, when confronted with the “evidence”, the deceit was usually confirmed. Ultimately, the truth was pieced together and couldn’t be denied.

As a consequence, I personally have a lot of faith in the results of DNA testing, especially when carried out by very reputable labs. I believe it belongs right there alongside ABO or HLA blood typing and fingerprint mapping. This is especially true when the results can be confirmed by two independent labs. There is hardly any margin for error.

It goes without saying that one of the most popular uses of DNA testing is to confirm or rule out paternity in cases of doubt. This was the theme of my blog posts in July and August 2019. This is so common that it is almost a standard in most Western countries. They say that in the United States, about 30% of children, roughly 1 in 3, are not the biological offspring of the man who is claimed by the mother to be the father.

Usually, the mother knows this for certain or at least suspects it. Yet, they go to great lengths to hide this knowledge from both the significant other (i.e., husband, but not always) and the child. Usually, it is because the woman wants the artificial father to stay in her life and to provide for her and the illegitimate children. This is known as paternity fraud, and it is widespread.

When the man in question is suspicious and demands a DNA test, the unfaithful mother usually fights it tooth and nail. Of course, this behavior only amplifies the suspicions and, ultimately, it doesn’t help her. If the quarrel is in court, the courts will typically order the test. Even if it is not a court battle, the father has much recourse to have the tests done on his own. 

If she can sneak behind his back, he can sneak behind hers. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. 

In our frum circles, we are much better behaved so paternity fraud is, B”H, not a common or communal issue, though I suppose it happens occasionally. But in the non-Orthodox circles, it is still plenty common (R”L) and Batei Din – who deal more frequently in non-Orthodox cases, BTW – have to confront it all the time.

In my post back in July 9  2019, I wrote the following:

Reb Tzuriel explains that the law in Israel is as follows. The court officially puts the interests of the child in question above everything else. In general, the court will rule for whatever course of action is best for the child. In a situation that can cause mamzerus, the court will not allow a DNA (or any paternity test) without getting a confirmation from the Nasi of the Rabbinate. As a rule, the Rabbinate forbids these tests.

I went on to explain how much trouble this causes regardless of whether it helps the subject out of a status of mamzer. I questioned whether the upside is really an upside and if, in any case, they are worth the drawbacks of the downside.

Let’s now get up to date.

In the secular world, DNA profiling has become so accepted and such a factor in resolving paternity issues that there is rumbling about drafting laws to require mandatory DNA paternity testing in all hospitals as a matter of course.

Currently, there is no such law on the books in any US state or even in progress. As one can imagine, there is a lot of pushback from the unfaithful liberals who, as always, want to have their cake and somebody else pay for it. It’s American as apple pie.

The State of Tennessee, however, recently passed two preliminary types of laws. One from 2023 is to declare paternity fraud a crime. This one is long overdue. As far as I could research, it is not considered a crime anywhere else. This is incredible.

The other one from 2022 removes a five year statute of limitations to challenge a paternity case. I think any statute of limitations for something like this is absurd unless it can be proven that the father in question was fully aware of a question of paternity at an earlier time and did not act.

I suppose that if all your exes live in Texas, it pays to hang your hat in Tennessee. 

There are those who suggest that it doesn’t need to be compulsory. If the alleged father doesn’t want to submit his DNA and prove paternity, it may be unconstitutional to force him to, just like all the vaccine mandates were supposed to be. But a more watered down version may be a mandatory law to record and store just the baby’s DNA. All babies get blood tested for various reasons anyway so it can’t be called invasive. Hence, if a father, at any time later on, wants to confirm his paternity, the DNA is there in a national database.

What does this have to do with us?

Well, anything that turns into a law of a land affects all the inhabitants of that land. This includes us. Personally, I am in favor of such a law and there is no reason it should affect the faithful among us.

The question is, if such a thing will become a standard in the hi-tech industrial Western world, will it have to be adopted here in Israel? After all, we cannot be less advanced and progressive than everyone else, can we?

Interestingly, on this issue there are reasons why the lefty liberals might be against it and there are reasons why the Orthodox Jews (Chareidim?) and the Rabbanut may be against it. So, perhaps, both sides will join forces as they have been doing until now to sweep it all under the rug.

Yet, we are living in a pre-Moshiach era where all of the world’s dark secrets are being exposed, just like what happened during the ten plagues and Makkos Bechoros. At the end of the “day”, all falsehood will be demolished, and the truth will shine through. 

Or else, we can always try to do a Goral HaGra.