I know that after glancing at the headline of this blog some of you reading this will be very disappointed in my decision, but I ask, actually I plead with you, to please read the entire blog before rejecting my decision and rejecting me. I know this topic is controversial and has even divided families and broken friendships; however, knowing that so many people are being ravaged and lost to this disease, I felt I needed to share my choice, even if the result of this blog only persuades one other person to become vaccinated. I know that my decision may damage or even cause an end of some of my personal relationships.
As a Rabbi and leader I know that I have a responsibility for those in my congregations, community, and any that I may have influence over. I take this responsibility very seriously and the truth is that the more controversial the issue, the stronger my visible stance must be. The truth is that there is no issue more serious than the decision to protect oneself from something that according to the best information available is a deadly threat to everyone unvaccinated against this virus.
I didn’t make my decision lightly. I studied the research and I listened to the experts. Most importantly, I went directly to people who made the choice to be vaccinated that I knew personally and asked them not only why they chose to be vaccinated, but also how that choice had affected them.
Without exception, every person that I spoke to that had been vaccinated reported that while it was a controversial decision, that not all of their friends and family agreed with it. Not one of them said they would not have made the same decision if they had to make it again. Without exception, all of them said that after being vaccinated, they felt that they had been set free from the fear of death from the illness.
So, after much study, research, prayer, counselling, and soul searching, in May 1981, I made the decision to get vaccinated against sin by accepting Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah. Because of the overwhelming evidence, it led me to conclude that the disease of sin will cause the death of every human being that does not receive this vaccination. I chose to write this blog because as I look and listen to what people say today, many seem to forget what Yeshua said in Matthew 10:28:
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
We have become so distracted arguing about the vaccine against a sickness that can kill the body, that we have allowed fear to overwhelm us so much that we aren’t telling people about the only vaccine that is 100% effective at protecting us from the death we should be most concerned about.