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.