Chief Rabbi’s measles warning: ‘The blood will be on their hands’

Speaking amid the spread of the measles epidemic in Jerusalem and other cities, Rabbi David Yosef, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel and Rishon LeZion, stated: “Parents who do not vaccinate their children—I cannot call them Torah-observant. If, heaven forbid, something happens to their child, these parents should live with the guilt their entire lives because they killed their own child! The blood will be on their hands. There is no doubt about this matter.”

He also strongly condemned those using religious arguments against vaccinations: “Anyone who claims, in the name of religion or Torah, that it is forbidden to vaccinate, not only misuses the Torah, but is entirely lying! The opposite of the truth. The holy Torah instructs us to follow the guidance of doctors, and if medicine says to vaccinate, then it must be done.”

Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabbi Yosef recalled his early support for vaccination campaigns, even personally requesting to be vaccinated in public to set an example for the community. “Blessed be God, today no one disputes that isolation and vaccination guidelines literally saved lives,” he said, also citing historical epidemics such as the one in Turkey, where strict isolation rules were followed.

Rabbi Yosef devoted part of his remarks to warning against “popular rabbis” who prevent people from seeking medical care. He recounted a case decades ago in Beit Shemesh, where a child with leg cancer was denied treatment because a revered rabbi had promised the child would be healed without intervention. Rabbi Yosef said: “I went to Beit Shemesh, shouted at him that he was a murderer spilling blood. Who allowed him to prevent life-saving medical treatment for a Jewish child?! I ordered him to immediately contact the parents and the medical team to take the child to the hospital.” The child received treatment and survived, now grown with a family of his own.

He also warned against using natural medicine as a replacement for conventional treatment: “It is fine for people to use natural remedies and various alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, but under no circumstances should this replace conventional medicine! Heaven forbid!”

Rabbi Yosef shared a personal tragedy: “I had an acquaintance who passed away because he relied solely on natural medicine. I tried to convince him to go to the hospital, but it was in vain. Eventually, after his condition worsened, I managed to persuade him—but by then it was too late.”