Immunizations and Responsible Parenting

With the recent outbreak of Measles due to an unvaccinated child at Disneyland, everyone seems to be talking about the parents, known as anti-vaxxers, who choose to not have their children vaccinated for various reasons. Hillel Day School, the Jewish day school that I attended as a child and where my children now go to school, recently changed its policy about vaccinations -- a decision which I support wholeheartedly.

The Head of School, Steve Freedman, sent out an email to the school community outlining the new policy which he implemented. The bottom line is that no children without up-to-date vaccinations, unless they have a medical waiver from the child's physician, will be allowed to continue at the school. He wrote, "Hillel reserves the right to: Exclude any child whose family has refused immunization, exclude any child who is not immunized against measles or pertussis and has been potentially exposed, for the duration of the incubation period." Regarding students who are not immunized for non-medical reasons, such as on religious grounds or for a philosophical objection, he explained, "Hillel Day school will not accept religious grounds as an objection. On the contrary, Jewish values would insist on vaccinations based on the concept of pikuah nefesh – saving a life. Vaccines not only protect your children, they also protect the others in the community. If not enough people are immunized, others are put at risk, including young children, babies, the elderly, and pregnant women." (Waivers for philosophical objections will only be granted after parents take a required class from the county health department).

After the email from Hillel last week, I was contacted by the Detroit Jewish News for my opinion of this decision, both as a rabbi and as a parent in the school. Here's how I responded:

"A core ethic of Judaism is pikuach nefesh, the idea that preserving human life overrides virtually any other Jewish law. With modern medicine we understand that it is essential for good health that babies and young children receive vaccinations on the required schedule. Not receiving these vaccinations puts that individual's life at risk, as well as countless others. Therefore, I argue that refusing vaccinations for babies and children is antithetical to living in accordance with Jewish law."

"When I read the recent email from Steve Freedman at Hillel Day School, where my children attend, I was grateful for his tough stance on vaccinations. Just one child at a school who isn't vaccinated puts everyone else at risk and that is irresponsible."

Transparent, Transsexuals and the Former Hasidic Jewish Transgender

Like millions of others, Jeffrey Tambor's win at the Golden Globes propelled me to watch the Amazon Prime Video original series "Transparent." My wife and I spent a few hours watching it Saturday night and then finished our "binge watching" of the series on Sunday night. My three main initial impressions of "Transparent" are: 1) What a powerful way to introduce us to the life of a transsexual; 2) This might be the most Jewish television show of all time; and, 3) This is important television as much as it is entertaining television.

In an October 2014 episode of HuffPost Live, Amy Landeker, one of the stars of the show said, "Transparent can actually save people's lives." And she's correct. Not only is it an enjoyable, smart and funny TV show, it's also educational in the sense that it brings transsexuals into the mainstream and shows just how human they really are rather than "other." The transitional and transformational life of the transsexual takes its toll on their family and friends as well. "Transparent" is the type of show that simply hasn't been done before. When I was a young child I remember hearing my parents talk about Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie." I never saw that movie, but my sense is that it wasn't the authentic portrayal of an adult transsexual like Jeffrey Tambor brilliantly portrays in "Transparent."

Jill Soloway, whose own father is a transsexual, has brilliantly created story lines that demonstrate the ups and downs in the life of a transsexual. The confusion, curiosity and embarrassment that one feels during this journey is overwhelming. As Tambor shows the viewers, the mere act of taking out one's driver's license to checkout at a store or walking into the restroom at the mall can be a terrifyingly complicated ordeal. This is something that religious leaders and those who work with teens have to recognize in the 21st century as transsexualism is becoming more common among teens.

Rabbi Dovid Winiarz Exploited Facebook for Good

Just last week I blogged about the importance of Jewish leaders and teachers using social media to reach out to their following in the 21st century. One of the premier examples of a rabbi who exploited social media, and Facebook specifically, for good was Rabbi Dovid Winiarz.

Rabbi Winiarz was a popular outreach rabbi on Staten Island who had over 12,000 followers on his public Facebook page, which was called "The Facebuker Rebbe." Like Rabbi David Wolpe, who similarly has built up a massive following on Facebook to teach and inspire, Rabbi Winiarz posted his religious teachings to inspire more Jews to embrace an observant life.

Tragically, The Facebuker Rebbe Facebook page yesterday turned into a tribute page after Rabbi Winiarz was killed in an early Sunday morning car accident in Maryland while traveling to Baltimore for a kiruv (outreach) retreat. He was the father of ten children.

What Social Media Has Done to Religious Life

This summer I'll be teaching at Kenyon College's Beyond Walls Spiritual Writing program in Gambier, Ohio. This one-week writing intensive program will teach clergy and seminary students how to be a more expressive, authentic, and skilled writer. The focus will be on writing op-eds, blogs, personal essays and social media. Below is the essay I wrote that was published in the Beyond Walls monthly digital magazine, in which I look at how the Internet and social media have disrupted religion and broken borders:

Social Media as a Borders Breaker in Religion
How the internet has disrupted Religion for good. Not just intrafaith, but interfaith too.

With billions of users between Facebook and Twitter alone (not to mention the dozens of other popular social networks), religion is being discussed in a borderless environment like never before. It's fair to say that the internet in general and social media in particular have disrupted religion for good. This disruption has not only been intrafaith, but interfaith as well. Religious leaders around the globe have never before had this level of engagement with each other and that means that religious life for future generations will be shaped by this new form of dialogue.

As social media increasingly becomes part of our daily lives, people will find new ways to interact with religion and spirituality. For some, this may be interacting with like-minded people on a synagogue or church Facebook page. For others, it may be learning a different holy text each day through a Twitter feed. In the Digital Age, religion and spirituality are being disseminated virtually and that means that time and location are no longer limiting factors. Answers to religious questions -- no matter from where they emanate -- are responded to in a fraction of the time they once were.

Each year of the 21st century, we are also seeing dynamic growth in the new communities of people of faith who do not affiliate with a bricks and mortar religious institution. These people, throughout the world, are nevertheless engaged in many aspects of a faith community through social networking. Increasingly, people will say they are religious or spiritual or inspired by religious texts, but only because they have chosen to plug in and engage with social media.

Jennifer Preston, writing in the NY Times explains that "while it’s too early to say that social media have transformed the way people practice religion, the number of people discussing faith on Facebook has significantly increased in the last year, according to company officials."

As a rabbi and a social media consultant for several synagogues around the country, I can report that congregational leaders (rabbis, educators and program directors) are noticing that large swaths of their membership are becoming more engaged in congregational programs, classes and discussion groups, but these folks are not walking into the synagogue building any more than they had previously.

Haredi Newspapers Again Scrub Women From Iconic Photos

The Haredi newspapers are at it again.  Back in 2011 I wrote several blog posts (here on this blog, in the Huffington Post, and in The Jewish Week) about how a couple of Haredi Jewish newspapers had used Photoshop to remove women from iconic photos. Back then it was the Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish newspaper Der Tzitung removing Hillary Clinton from the famous photo of when Osama Bin Laden had been captured. My article in The Jewish Week was even shown on The Colbert Report when Stephen Colbert discussed the topic.

Now, the Haredi Israeli newspaper HaMevaser has digitally altered the now iconic photo of the 44 world leaders who marched in Paris on Sunday to express solidarity with France. The paper removed German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and EU foreign affairs and security chief Frederica Mogherini. Another female leader, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, was cropped out of the photo (one of her hands remains visible in the photo). The Israeli news site Walla.com first noticed the Photoshop job.

The iconic photo of world leaders at the march in Paris after being altered to remove the women.

The iconic photo of world leaders at the march in Paris before being altered.

Rabbi Jonathan Frankel's Nucleus Intercom

A few months ago I had the opportunity to interview Rabbi Jonathan Frankel, an tech startup entrepreneur who was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi at Yeshiva University. I had heard about his wireless intercom invention for the home and was intrigued. Earlier this week at CES in Las Vegas I had a chance to meet Yonatan in person as he and his business partner Isaac Levy were exhibiting in Eureka Park, the area for technology startups at the Sands Convention Center at CES.

With Isaac Levy and Jonathan Frankel of Nucleus at CES 2015

Looking at his doll house as an example of how the Nucleus intercom works I was able to see how he can sit in his third floor office at his home while watching and listening to his baby sleeping on the first floor and interact with his Philadelphia office. With some significant additional funding, 2015 should be a pivotal year for Nucleus and Frankel. This is the article I published in the Huffington Post and the Detroit Jewish News (Renaissance Media) about Nucleus:

Orthodox Rabbi Invents Home Intercom for 21st Century

Rabbi Jonathan Frankel had no problem getting through rabbinical school at Yeshiva University or law school at Harvard. It was keeping track of his three young sons that had him running around his house losing his mind. The tech-savvy Frankel, 30, would often find himself yelling at the top of his lungs to try and get his kids to come to the dinner table. On the way to his job, he’d be unable to communicate with his wife because he didn’t know where she was – and there was usually a baby crying to add to the commotion.

Having grown up in a house with an intercom, Frankel had a feeling that it would be the answer to his family’s communication problem. After graduating from law school, Frankel took a job with Boston Consulting Group and it was there that the idea for a 21st century intercom first came to him. He and his wife were moving into a newly renovated home and he began taking bids for intercom installation. He figured that before all of the drywall was installed would be the perfect time to have professionals set up the intercom system throughout the house.

Jonathan Frankel, an ordained Orthodox rabbi, is the inventor of the Nucleus intercom