anti-vaxxers
Vaccinating the Gay Away, ummm.. Huh? Part II, Notes on the Video and More Dangerous Conspiracy Theories
Published with the Permission of the Author
WRITTEN BY WARREN BURSTEIN AND FOUND ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE
This is going to be long. It’s a review of the video behind this article https://www.israelhayom.com/…/popular-rabbi-warns-follower…/ (Popular rabbi warns followers COVID vaccine ‘could make you gay’). I’m not going to link to the video, but if you want to watch it for yourself, search on YouTube for הרב דניאל עשור and find the video he posted on Jan 10. It’s all in Hebrew, so if your Hebrew isn’t good or nonexistent, read on.
If you only want to hear about the claim that the vaccine makes people gay, skip to the paragraph that starts with “15:50”
The video is 42 minutes long, throughout all you see is a still of the speaker and the title of the video, over a background of a blackboard full of equations and diagrams that keeps zooming in and repeating. Most of it is hidden by the still images, but I was able to see the equation for zero point energy, and velocity of an object in a gravitational field as a function of distance fallen. This is the only video on his channel with this (at least in the thumbnail), so it may have been chosen to give the impression that this video contains some science, but those two equations have nothing to do with the COVID-19 vaccine.
00:55 There’s no plague, there might be a disease
01:00 The number of people vaccinated in Israel is “Aravushi” propaganda, like during wartime. The word in quotes is a Hebrew derogatory word for Arabs. It’s a a diminutive, and usually is positive (for example, you might call a child, lover, or close friend “Danielush”) but this is an exception. See here (in Hebrew) https://he.wikipedia.org/…/%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%99_%…
02:10 Jews are being used as test subjects (this is somewhat true, Israel is collecting data for Pfizer, but Israel isn’t the only country currently administering the vaccine. I don’t think Great Britain is experimenting on Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, now if they gave it to Charles, but I digress) and this is reminiscent of medical experimentation during the Holocaust. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law)
02:25 He explains how the vaccine works, mRNA doesn’t change DNA so there’s no cause for concern, it makes proteins in ribosomes which stimulates the immune system, and he at least gives a good explanation of what he disagrees with, conspiracy theorists very often do not do that.
05:00 A Professor Alon Sadeh claims that if it didn’t change DNA, immunity wouldn’t last. This is wrong, because the immune system doesn’t require continuous production of the spike protein, it has memory. I found Sadeh’s article about the vaccine (https://drive.google.com/…/15flcRcrqY3l1m2ettOXoOuJgvG…/view), and after the amount of time it took to watch the video I don’t feel like reading six pages in Hebrew so I’m only responding to Asor’s summary of what Sadeh said. However he doesn’t seem to be a professor, he’s been a researcher at universities in the past, but he only has a Masters degree and currently teaches at an elementary school in Rechovot (https://shuvu-rehovot.tik-tak.net/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95…/)
06:50 The vaccine is intended to change DNA. Mentions Yuval Harari who has written about changing human DNA, but has not, as far as I can tell, said that the vaccine is an instance of that.
08:46 Goes back to Alon Sadeh and (unnamed) others who think the vaccine is designed to alter DNA
09:23 Raises the possibility that the immune system would attack cells that are making spike proteins. I haven’t found an article dealing with this, but the vaccine went into Stage 1 tests in August and mRNA vaccines have been in veterinary use for longer.
14:00 There is a protein in the human placenta similar to the spike protein so this could prevent pregnancies and repeats the misinterpretation of Bill Gates’ claim that vaccination would reduce overpopulation (but it’s not by killing people, it’s by parents not having large families so at least some children survive). There have been woman who got pregnant after receiving the vaccine in Phase 3 trials, the only pregnancy loss was in the placebo group (https://hartfordhealthcare.org/abou…/news-press/news-detail…)
15:50 The vaccine contains fetal tissues, and this is known to cause “inverted tendencies” (religious Hebrew for homosexuality) but he gives no evidence.. In fact, while Pfizer and Moderna tested the vaccines on fetal cell lines, there are no fetal cells in the vaccine (https://www.nebraskamed.com/…/you-asked-we-answered-do-the-…)
16:37 Either Bill Gates or someone from Pfizer who resembles him somewhat gave a speech, which is on the net, but he doesn’t say where, about how religious fundamentalist extremists have an unnamed hormone in their brain, and speculates that if a vaccine could be made to neutralize it, religious fundamentalist extremism could be eliminated. He confuses religious fundamentalist extremism with all religion, but that may not be an accident … In any case, there’s no evidence that this vaccine would have that effect.
18:20 While the vaccine does not contain chips, it does contain an unnamed nanotechnology ingredient. In fact, it’s a nanoparticle lipid which helps the mRNA get to where it needs to (https://www.reuters.com/…/fact-check-lipid-nanoparticles-in…)
The rest of the video is religious arguments and repetitions of earlier claims that I’ll skip, the only point I want to highlight is that at 36:25 he refers to the belief, common among religious Jewish conspiracy-messianic-theorists, that before the coming of the Messiah, the “erev rav” will rule the land of Israel. The phrase is found in Exodus 12:38 and is understood to refer to non-Hebrew people who joined in the Exodus from Egypt, and classical rabbinic sources blame them for problems such as the sin of Golden Calf. In mystical sources they are said to be reincarnated and cause problems of Jews in later generations. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erev_Rav), and in contemporary discussions is used rather the same way as the phrase “Jews in Name Only”. It sometimes turns up in discussions around Yitzchak Rabin’s assassination, but in this video the implication is that the current Prime Minister is no better.
A Flyover, a Massive Crowded Funeral in Williamsburg, Mayor de Blasio and Covid-19
How Dare the Haredi Community, Cheskel Bennett, Chaim Deutsch, OJPAC and Others Slam Mayor De Blasio After He Broke up 2500 People Gathered for A Funeral? They are Not Speaking for the Jews?
by LostMessiah and Team
We commend the tipsters who posted pictures and video of a massive funeral on Twitter and YouTube. It takes a village to raise a child and apparently heroes to to save the world.
The audacity of the Haredi Community, its leaders, activists and spokespeople knows no bounds. Last night Mayor Bill de Blasio accompanied by New York Police Department members, broke up a “massive” funeral that lined the streets of Williamsburg.
Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD were putting their lives at risk by being forced to demand compliance with laws that should be self-evident at this juncture. De Blasio was rightfully livid, irate, and more than willing to place blame where it rightfully belongs, on the community that attended that funeral. It does not matter that the community is Jewish. It does not matter that anti-Semitism is on the rise. The massive congregation of people for that funeral is a clear and unequivocally indefensible violation of the rules of large gatherings and social distancing. If the Jewish community that attended that funeral doesn’t want to increase anti-Semitism, they shouldn’t be throwing their defiance of laws in the faces of New Yorkers and all US citizens who are complying with mandates.
The “Yeshiva World News” is quoted as saying “Williamsburg Shomrim was seen on video before it started doing their best and prepared masks to be handed out to everyone. Unfortunately, the social distancing was not what it should be been.”
There are so many points here that are problematic. The Williamsburg Shomrim, allegedly an arm of law enforcement and funded largely by New York City’s taxpayers, should have been breaking up the crowd not assisting them to stay safe while violating the law. That’s like putting out a ladder for a thief so he doesn’t get hurt breaking into a store from the roof, instead of calling police to tell them a crime is in progress. It’s unrivaled defiance and the Shomrim, which we have always believed needs to be sunsetted out of New York law enforcement circles, has indeed proven us right yet again.
Two Thousand, Five-Hundred (2500) people gathered in Willaimsburg for the Rabbi’s funeral, who himself died of Covid-19. They crowded the narrow and impassable streets of Williamsburg, most not donning face masks (despite the efforts of Shomrim). Setting aside that Kings County has one of the highest per-capita death rates from Covid-19 in New York City’s five boroughs and setting aside that the Blessed Rabbi died, ironically, from Covid-19, do the mourners really want to be pulling (or pushing) others into the grave with the rabbi?
Was this massive event really necessary? No.
Did it violate the Halachic principles of Pikuach Nefesh, which states that human life above all else must be protected? Yes.
And more to the point was it responsible? No.
Did it abide by the rules of social distancing? No.
Did it put others unnecessarily in danger, and that includes any first responders who will inevitably treat the sick and the Shomrim allegedly “doing their best”? Yes.
NYC – End to Measles, But Not the End of Fight Against Anti-Vaxxers
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot (right) at a press conference in April at the height of the measles outbreak. NYC MAYOR’S OFFICE FLICKR
NYC Declares End To Measles Outbreak, But Fight Against Anti-Vaxxers Continues
New York City’s biggest measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, which predominantly sickened ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents of Williamsburg and Borough Park, has ended.
According to Health Department officials, 42 days, or two consecutive incubation periods for the highly contagious virus have passed, allowing the city to declare itself measles-free. The last recorded infection was in mid-July. An emergency order in place since April that required measles vaccination for all people who lived, worked or attended school in four Brooklyn zip codes has been lifted.
“There may no longer be local transmission of measles in New York City, but the threat remains given other outbreaks in the U.S. and around the world,” Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Our best defense against renewed transmission is having a well-immunized city.”
Since the outbreak began in early October, 654 New York City residents got sick, 73 percent of whom were unvaccinated children. Fifty-two people were hospitalized and 16 of those people were admitted to intensive care units, according to the Health Department.
“The response to this outbreak has been nothing short of epic,” Barbot said, adding that 547 health department employees worked more than 1,000 hours. In total the response efforts cost the city more than $6 million.
Efforts to quash the outbreak were met by pushback from anti-vaccine activists at every turn, she said.
“We faced sustained resistance from anti-vaccination forces who continued to hold rallies and scare parents,” Barbot said. “These campaigns of fear and lies put New Yorkers at risk. We had to do more than the anti-vaxxers.”
While no one died in New York City’s outbreak, an Israeli flight attendant who caught the virus while traveling from New York to Tel Aviv died from complications in mid-August, according to Times of Israel. All those hospitalized have recovered, though some severe, long-term complications of measles can occur months and even years later, officials said.
The height of the outbreak occurred in April, with nearly 200 cases. Those numbers began to decline in the following months, after the city declared a public health emergency. Immunization rates for children in affected neighborhoods jumped in that time, from 88 percent before the outbreak to now nearly 99 percent in Borough Park and from 67 percent to 95 percent in Williamsburg, officials said.
As part of the city’s emergency order, people who refused vaccination for themselves or their children could be fined $1,000. The city doled a total 232 of those summonses to parents for failing to get their children vaccinated, and about 29 have had to pay fines after an administrative hearing. Some of the cases are still pending and another 159 were canceled after the family either got their child vaccinated or showed proof of measles immunity from a blood test.
In the years leading up to this most recent outbreak, ultra-Orthodox areas saw a decrease in immunization rates, and a spike in religious exemptions, Gothamist and WNYC reported. The trend was largely fueled by misinformation about the supposed dangers of vaccines, spread by a handful of anti-vaccination activists within the Orthodox community who had ties to the national, secular anti-vaccine movement, and propagated their ideas with glossy hand-delivered pamphlets, robocalls, hotlines for fearful moms and massive symposiums with hundreds of attendees.
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Measles, Number of New Cases Increases
Washington – U.S. Health Officials Record 14 New Cases Of Measles As Outbreak Slows
Washington – The United States recorded 14 new measles cases between June 27 and July 3, federal health officials said on Monday, signaling a slowdown in the spread of the disease that has infected 1,109 people this year in the worst U.S. outbreak since 1992.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had seen a 1.3% increase in cases since the previous week and that it has recorded cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease in 28 states.
In recent weeks, the CDC has reported smaller increases in the number of measles cases, compared to a surge of more than a hundred cases reported in a single week earlier this year. It reported 18 new cases last week.
Disease outbreaks have not been reported in any new states since June 10.
The running tally of cases this year includes both active cases and those that have since resolved. No fatalities have been reported.
Health experts say the virus has spread mostly among school-age children whose parents declined to give them the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which confers immunity to the disease. A vocal fringe of U.S. parents cite concerns that the vaccine may cause autism, despite scientific studies that have debunked such claims.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning there was no continuous transmission of the disease for a year. Still, cases of the virus occur and spread via travelers coming from countries where measles is common.
CDC officials have warned that the country risks losing its measles elimination status if the ongoing outbreak, which began in October 2018 in New York, continues until October 2019.
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Measles, Currently the Most Contagious Virus and the Misinformation Spread to Insular Communities
FEAR, MISINFORMATION, AND MEASLES SPREAD IN BROOKLYN
WHEN THE GIRL had arrived at the ER, she was put in a busy area, where children with earaches or broken arms typically sit. No one suspected measles, because, thanks to routine childhood vaccination, the disease was declared eliminatedin the United States in 2000. Although there had been localized outbreaks since then—among the Amish in Ohio, visitors to Disneyland in California, and the Somali American community in Minnesota—neither Arroyo nor most of his staff had seen a case firsthand. Suspecting measles was like thinking “maybe that’s a unicorn,” Arroyo says. “It doesn’t really cross your mind, because measles shouldn’t exist anymore.”
Still, several measles cases had been reported in a different part of Brooklyn. And after a few hours, Arroyo’s team began to worry that the child in their care might be another. They put a mask over her face and wheeled her into an isolation room, with two sets of doors and air circulating under negative pressure to prevent airborne particles from escaping.
By then, however, “the bomb had gone off,” Arroyo says. Measles is considered one of the most contagious diseases in existence. If a person with measles walks through a room with a hundred people who are not immunized, up to 90 of them will get the disease. The virus is spread through coughs and sneezes and lingers in the air for up to two hours. Some 122,000 people come through the Maimonides emergency room every year. The hospital, located in Borough Park, serves one of the most diverse patient populations in the country, from ultra-Orthodox Jews to immigrants whose first language might be Mandarin, Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, or Uzbek. Many are working-class cab drivers, manual laborers, and restaurant workers who bring their children to the ER at night, when their shifts are done.
Dr. Alexander Arroyo in the waiting room of Maimonides Medical Center.
NATALIE KEYSSAR
Standing in the street that Halloween, Arroyo thought about the dozens of patients who might have been exposed—in the waiting room, the hallway, the exam rooms—from the time the girl came into the hospital until she was placed in isolation. He looked down at his daughter in the carriage, dressed as a clown fish, and thought, “She’s not vaccinated.” She was still too young, as were other babies who might have been in the ER. He knew that his team would have to figure out right away who, exactly, had been breathing the same air as the infected girl. He waved down his wife, who had been making her way down the street with their toddler, and asked her to take the baby carriage. Then he headed home to make phone calls. “I saw my life falling into a pit of measles,” he says.
Arroyo is an amateur kickboxer, lanky and athletic. He hurried down the street, talking by phone with the hospital’s infection-control nurse and mapping out a plan. At home he changed out of the octopus costume and logged on to the hospital’s electronic medical records to check what time, exactly, the girl with measles had entered the ER. He called the other doctors who had been on duty to see if they remembered any pregnant mothers or immunocompromised children who would have been especially at risk.
He also called the hospital’s IT department to help backtrack through medical charts. His team generated names of 55 children who had potentially been exposed to the disease, then asked the New York City Department of Health to cross-reference it with vaccination records. For the MMR vaccine (against measles, mumps, and rubella) to be effective, the immune system has to be mature enough to produce antibodies to the virus. Young babies’ immune systems are not sufficiently developed, so children generally receive an MMR vaccine at 1 year old and another at age 4 or 5; those who had come through the hospital but had not completed both doses were considered at risk.
On the Maimonides list were a 12-month-old, a 10-month-old, and three babies younger than 6 months, including one who was just 17 days old. All were vulnerable, and Arroyo realized he was already running out of time. To prevent infection, the children needed to receive MMR shots within 72 hours, and young babies would have to be given immunoglobulin, a form of temporary protection, within six days. The infection-control nurse began making calls to those babies’ parents.
Yeshiva Kehilat Pupa, NYC’s $2M Measles Bill and an Armed Anti-Vaxxer Movement
One Williamsburg school ‘ignited’ NYC’s measles crisis
The outbreak has cost the city roughly $2 million.
Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov Pupa in Williamsburg failed to bar unvaccinated children from attending class, Health Department officials said. Image via Google Maps
A single school’s decision to allow an unvaccinated child to attend class led to more than 40 measles cases and the eventual proliferation of the disease across New York City, a top health official said on Monday.
Demetre Daskalakis, deputy commissioner of the city’s Department of Health, revealed at a conference hosted by NYU Langone that Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov Pupa in Williamsburg was the catalyst for what would become the worst outbreak in decades — with 609 confirmed cases as of Monday.
“One school failed to exclude people in Williamsburg,” Daskalakis said. “We had one measles case in that school, and subsequently every unvaccinated child who was not excluded came down with the measles, creating really the spark that ignited Williamsburg and created a true fire of measles in that neighborhood.”
The infected child had the disease but had not yet begun showing symptoms when he showed up for class at the yeshiva, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish private school, in late January.
The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The outbreak began spreading in the fall of 2018, when Health Department officials announced that six Brooklyn children had contracted the disease. The initial Brooklyn case was acquired by a child on a visit to Israel, where a large outbreak was taking place.
The epidemic has been contained mostly to the Orthodox Jewish communities of Williamsburg and Borough Park, with more than a dozen confirmed cases also in Sunset Park among the Latino population.
Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency on April 9 requiring mandatory measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations for residents who live in the northern Brooklyn ZIP codes of 11205, 11206, 11211 and 11249.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill on June 13 banning any non-medical exemption to vaccinations, including religious exemptions.
The outbreak has cost the city roughly $2 million, according to Daskalakis. He said that despite their greatest efforts to send out exclusion letters, monitor schools and audit them, the disease has still led to dire consequences, including 50 hospitalizations and 18 ICU visits.
“We’ve had a lot of close calls with kids who have been very very sick,” he said.
As of June 14, 11 institutions had been shuttered by the city for failing to adhere to the emergency order. (UTA of Williamsburg – Yeshiva Torah V’Yirah at 590 Bedford Ave. was closed twice.)
Daskalakis said that further exacerbating the outbreak, and likely influencing the operators of lone wolf yeshivas, was a highly sophisticated campaign of anti-vaxxersseeking to undermine the city’s order through misinformation.
Some residents were also deliberately attempting to have their children contract measles to build up a natural immunity to the infection. “Rather than the spark igniting the kindling, we had the kindling actually looking for the spark,” Daskalakis said.
Although the disease is primarily affecting the Orthodox Jewish community, Daskalakis wanted to break the myth that the general Orthodox Jewish community is resistant to vaccines. “It’s not true,” he said, citing the fact that after the outbreak was announced, vaccination rates in Williamsburg rose from around 70 percent to about 92 percent.
LOSTMESSIAH 