Jewish Values on Vaccinations
Jewish law has much to say about the public health issues at play in vaccines, particularly how in this case protecting oneself is protecting many others at the same time.
Jewish law has much to say about the public health issues at play in vaccines, particularly how in this case protecting oneself is protecting many others at the same time.
Since none are beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, whatever is thought about it, including bioethical thinking about it, is necessarily being done from within it.
The vulnerabilities of illness do not define the person, but require that they receive extra care.
The purpose of the mask is not just medical. It is an outward display of an inner feeling of sadness, and it shows others that we are coping with a difficult time, and that this summer lacks the same joy as last year’s.
Rather than seeing God as decreeing disease, we’re better off recognizing how human beings affect the cosmos and, in turn, the divine.
I kept waking up at night with the image of field hospitals in my head and thinking, “We’re going to have to build field hospitals.” My only experience with field hospitals was watching M*A*S*H* and seeing news reports from other countries in crisis.
The truth is one day we will all die. COVID-19 is forcing us to ask how we will choose to live.
There is a unique danger of data wonkishness: putting so much stock in scientific abstractions that reality itself becomes invisible.
The difficulty of judging our need for physical distance can turn into something much worse: moral distance.
In the time of COVID-19 and physical distancing, how can we maintain our personal and spiritual connections?