"A Not-So-Simple Majority:
Before the war in the East Ramapo, New York school district, there was a truce. Local school officials made a deal with their Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbors: we'll leave you alone to teach your children in private yeshivas as you see fit as long as you allow our public school budget to pass. But the budget is funded by local property taxes, which everyone, including the local Hasidim, have to pay — even though their kids don't attend the schools that their money is paying for. What followed was one of the most volatile local political battles we've ever encountered."
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/534/a-not-so-simple-majorit...
The point of my comment is that Judaism itself is not the reason these orthodox communities are rejecting vaccines, unlike some other communities/religions that have specific cultural or religious objections to medical care.
I was meaning to highlight their resistance to intervention by the local governments whose jurisdiction they do their best to ignore.
BTW, you should look at this horrible anti-vax booklet (linked to from the Gothamist piece) that’s been circulated among these communities:
https://issuu.com/peachmoms/docs/the_vaccine_safety_handbook...
Ugh.
You are correct! I was attempting to add additional context and history to the Orthodox communities that are in Upstate NY. It's a long and complicated relationship that these tight-knit communities have had with their neighbors. Not unlike the complex relationships that the Amish have with their neighbors.
> The point of my comment is that Judaism itself is not the reason these orthodox communities are rejecting vaccines
I would also agree with this. From my very outsider perspective, it seems as if this is particular to just those Orthodox communities in Upstate NY, not to Orthodox Judaism in general. A very cursory google search turns up no issues with vaccinations in the Orthodox communities in New York City itself, not too far away.
0. In numerous states parents wishing not to vaccinate their children are permitted to sign a document stating that their religious convictions do not allow them to; based on this signature the child will then be permitted to attend school under the law. It is reported that small numbers of parents in Jewish schools have signed such documents. For a parent of a yeshiva student to sign such a statement in the name of Judaism is not just inappropriate, it is false. Whether a posek will rule that childhood immunizations are obligatory in halakhah or are discretionary (but highly advisable), there is no position in halakhah that says there is any prohibition or compelling reason to refrain from such vaccinations.
http://www.hakirah.org/Vol13Bush.pdf
1. “How Orthodox Jewish Nurses Are Fighting 'Anti-Vaccination Propaganda' Targeting Their Community”
http://gothamist.com/2019/03/26/orthodox_jewish_nurses_vacci...