Bracha for Covid-19 vaccination
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January 13, 2021 11:22 am at 11:22 am #1938364hujuParticipant
Is there a bracha we should make before or after getting our first or second Covid-19 vaccination? Maybe shehechianu?
January 13, 2021 12:35 pm at 12:35 pm #1938369lowerourtuition11210ParticipantDo you make a brocha on the chicken pox vaccine? on the measles vaccine? on the mumps vaccine? on the flu vaccine?
January 13, 2021 12:49 pm at 12:49 pm #1938372ujmParticipanthuju is simply trying to share with us how highly he feels about the Trump Covid-19 Vaccine.
January 13, 2021 12:49 pm at 12:49 pm #1938373TGIShabbosParticipanthuju, that’s kind of like a Reform-Judaism type of thing to do, Shehechianu for nearly anything and everything (a birthday, an anniversary, a new job, a graduation etc). It certainly cheapens the beauty and rarity of the bracha. What I humbly suggest to be more appropriate, and “couples” in with another mitzvah. Give Tzedaka for Hakaros HaTov for Hashem allowing the medical community to discover the vaccine (plenty of shuls and yeshivas would post it in their bulletin that it’s intended for such. A bikur cholim organization that supplies kosher foods at hospitals is a worthy and relevant cause). A perek of Tehillim? Making a Siyum on completing a mesechta, in appreciation for the discovery of the vaccine?
January 13, 2021 1:47 pm at 1:47 pm #1938384Reb EliezerParticipantWhen making an asher yotzar have in mind to thank Hashem that he created a means to heal you, preventively or when sick where rofeh means both.
January 13, 2021 2:43 pm at 2:43 pm #1938403Reb EliezerParticipantA vaccine creates an environment of fooling the body to feel that the illness has struck and waking up the antibodies to fight the virus so that tbe illness creates tbe cure. This is the meaning of umaflie laasos, creating wonders.
January 13, 2021 2:47 pm at 2:47 pm #1938414shebbesonianParticipantיהי רצון מלפניך שיהא עסק זה לי לרפואה כי רופא חנם אתה. ואחר הטיול יאמר ברוך רופא חולים, כמבואר השולחן ערוך לכל טיפול רפואי
January 13, 2021 5:14 pm at 5:14 pm #1938483DaMosheParticipantR’ Hershel Schachter made a brachah of Hatov v’hameitiv when he received his vaccine.
January 13, 2021 6:29 pm at 6:29 pm #1938504Reb EliezerParticipantDaMoshe, you make a brachah of Hatov vehametiv when you and others gain benefit as the vaccine protects you and others.
- This reply was modified 1 week, 4 days ago by YW Moderator-29 👨💻.
- This reply was modified 1 week, 4 days ago by Reb Eliezer.
January 13, 2021 6:30 pm at 6:30 pm #1938502charliehallParticipantIt wasn’t Trump who created the vaccines. Thank Moderna, Biontech, and Pfizer.
January 13, 2021 7:07 pm at 7:07 pm #1938510midwesternerParticipantMethinks that Charlie just showed his true colors. Not one person on this thread mentioned Trump. The only thanks mentioned top to bottom were addressed to Hashem. And he says thank the companies.
January 13, 2021 8:05 pm at 8:05 pm #1938521Reb EliezerParticipantmidwestener, ujm mentioned above tbat it was a Trump vaccine indicating hakoras hatov to him but Charlie certainly ment that the thanks goes to Hashem helping the companies to create it.
January 14, 2021 12:58 am at 12:58 am #1938551Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantDo you say a bracha at a 95% statistics? Also, you are also experiencing a little pain and worrying about side effects. Most importantly, protection will start about 10 days after the vaccine – can you say a bracha on something that will happen 10 days later?!
Maybe gomel, bli shem, is more appropriate, at about 10 days after first dose, where presumably risk of serious sickness diminishes.
January 14, 2021 12:59 am at 12:59 am #1938552Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantthose who put themselves unnecessarily in danger (not wore masks, went to crowded places without a compelling need) probably should not say a bracha.
January 14, 2021 1:24 am at 1:24 am #1938558🍫Syag LchochmaParticipantWhy not?
January 14, 2021 9:13 am at 9:13 am #1938645ubiquitinParticipantTGIshabbos
“that’s kind of like a Reform-Judaism type of thing to do, Shehechianu for nearly anything and everything (a birthday, an anniversary, a new job, a graduation etc). It certainly cheapens the beauty and rarity of the bracha.”I dont care for calling the desire to thank Hashem for something reform.
First of all The examples You cite are rare, birthday, anioversary is once a year each. And most people Don’t get new jobs or graduate often. None of thsoe would cheapen the beauty or rarity of the beracha.That said, like everything in our lives there are halachos. There is siman in shulchan Aruch OC 223, 225 with halachos of when the beracha is made, including buying new clothes , “keilim” , house and of course fruit. (I didn’t see mention to try to avoid eating too many fruits in order not to cheapen the beracha, in fact the opposite is true many have the minhag on Tu Bishvat to seek out fruit to make shechiyanu)
As to whether the vaccine qualifies as “keilim chadashim” or “good news” is a fair question. Most poskim said no, a few say yes.
as always speak to your LOR
January 14, 2021 1:33 pm at 1:33 pm #1938723AhvasChinomParticipantR Schachter, Shlita, said the bracha, but he did not seem to specifically announce that others should. It is possible that one of the reasons he made it, was because he was davka videoed taking the vaccine, so that others should take it and be helped.
January 14, 2021 2:48 pm at 2:48 pm #1938734Yserbius123ParticipantThere is a Yehi Ratzon for doctors to say when performing a procedure. Perhaps if you’re getting the vaccination from a frum person you should ask for he/she to say that. But a bracha is a big deal, it uses the Shem Hashem. It’s not so simple to just “say a bracha”. And you certainly should not pasken based on CR whether or not a bracha should be said.
January 14, 2021 7:37 pm at 7:37 pm #1938880ParticipantParticipantI’ll give the vaccine a bracha if it donates to kupat hair.
January 14, 2021 9:01 pm at 9:01 pm #1938908Reb EliezerParticipantWe don’t make a bracha on the vaccine as it is not edible but to tbe act of vaccination which leads to a cure.
January 14, 2021 10:46 pm at 10:46 pm #1938962Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantSyag >> Why not?
I somehow recalled learning that one does not say gomel after endangering himself recklessly, but I can not find a source. So, I’ll rephrase it as a question. Anyone else heard this?
January 14, 2021 10:58 pm at 10:58 pm #1938968🍫Syag LchochmaParticipantI have never heard such a thing (which means nothing) and if such a thing is indeed true, i would be very surprised if it could be applied as you tried to apply it (although i can’t tell if that was done as a prod or in sincerity 😊)
January 15, 2021 12:53 am at 12:53 am #1938979Reb EliezerParticipantA brocho of gomel is made going on a ship or through desert or getting out of jail which is within his control and no differnce is made what was the purpose, so getting cured should also make no difference even if one endangers himself. Chayim is the siman which is chovush, yam, yisurim and midbar.
January 15, 2021 5:58 am at 5:58 am #1939027Avi KParticipantיְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאֱלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לִי עֵסֶק זֶה לִרְפוּאָה, כִּי רוֹפֵא חִנָּם אַתָּה
January 15, 2021 9:57 am at 9:57 am #1939061hujuParticipantI never liked the term “Reform Jew”; it sounds too much like “reformed alcoholic”. A reform Jew might say, “Yeah, I used to be shomer shabbos, but then I reformed and drive to shul on Shabbos and then go to a diner for a ham and eggs kiddush.”
January 15, 2021 11:50 am at 11:50 am #1939081Yserbius123Participant@huju I believe Rav Hirsch ZT”L has a lot to say about the term “Reform”. The Reform invented the term to describe themselves, even though the movement is the opposite of a reformation. I don’t have an issue using it because I think it’s clear that the term describes the religion of Reform Judaism and not the idea that they are reformed Jews.
January 15, 2021 1:02 pm at 1:02 pm #1939105Reb EliezerParticipantIn Hungary in 1869, The Hungarian Jewish Congress, in a convention where the Neolog (Reform) questioned the Shulchan Aruch invocation, so the Orthodox Rabbonim, after pledging allegiance to the SA, quoted Hibodlu and walked out which created the shism or split.
January 15, 2021 1:17 pm at 1:17 pm #1939120charliehallParticipant“Charlie certainly ment that the thanks goes to Hashem helping the companies to create it.”
Biontech, Pfizer, and Moderna are HaShem’s instruments.
January 15, 2021 3:01 pm at 3:01 pm #1939137Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantthanks for challenging me. Here is what Gil Student writes online in 2016, summarized. Enjoy and apply.
Do we say the blessing if we emerge from a life-threat we willingly accepted?
In Machazik Berakhah (219:1), Chida quotes a debate on this subject. His father, Rav Yosef Azulai, ruled that the blessing was only enacted for someone who survived an external life threat, not something willingly undertaken. However, Rav Eliezer Nachum (author of Chazon Nachum) ruled that the blessing applies to anyone who survives.
Rav Eliezer Melamed (Peninei Halakhah, Berakhos, Harchavos 16:4) lists three practical implications:Elective Surgery – Tzitz Eliezer 10:25:23) rules that someone who donates a kidney does not bentch Gomel. Rav Ovadiah Yosef (Yechaveh Da’as 4:14) disagrees
Suicide Attempt –Chaim Palaggi (Responsa Lev Chaim 3:53) rules that he should recite the blessing because he was saved, as does Rav Azriel Hildesheimer (Responsa Rav Azriel, vol. 1 no. 29). However, Rav Ovadiah Yosef (ibid.) disagrees. Attempting suicide is a sin. How can someone recite a blessing generated by the sin?
Release From Prison: Some people who are convicted of a crime can avoid prison by paying a fine or ransom. If they choose not to pay and instead suffer the prison sentence
Ri Mi-Gash (no. 90) – yes, ha’arei Teshuvah (219:2) quotes him as yes without the shem
R. Simcha Rabinowitz (Piskei Teshuvos, vol. 2 219:11) sees this Sha’arei Teshuvah as a companion to the general view (of Rav Yosef Azulai) that someone who puts himself in danger should not bentch Gomel if he is saved.Rav Chaim Elazar Shapira (Minchas Elazar 4:47) discusses whether you may place yourself in life-threatening danger in order to learn Torah or earn money. He concludes that it is forbidden and that others may not quote a Torah insight in the name of someone who endangers his own life in order to learn Torah (based on Bava Kamma 61a). However, if someone did place his life in danger for pure purposes in order to learn Torah and was saved, he may bentch Gomel, but not someone who undertook the danger for monetary profit. When it comes to profit, no ones intention is ever completely pure.
January 15, 2021 3:02 pm at 3:02 pm #1939139Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantPS
on suicide, on an advise from my kid: if one was psychologically sick, you might be able to say gomel from being cured from that sickness, rather than saying that he committed a son, like R’ Ovadia says.can we say that someone who was not careful re:Covid was not of full capacity due to psychological pressure of kids being at home for months? consult your local Rabbi Dr….
January 17, 2021 1:50 am at 1:50 am #1939370☕ DaasYochid ☕ParticipantAAQ, that whole discussion has no bearing on this question.
Here, you didn’t create covid.
Even if in the past you were irresponsible for not minimizing your exposure, that has no bearing on the vaccine, which prevents one from getting dangerously ill from a future exposure.
The discussion you referred to might apply to a person who intentionally or through irresponsibility got very sick from covid and survived. Applying it to the vaccine doesn’t make sense, as Syag seemed to say.
January 17, 2021 2:08 pm at 2:08 pm #1939553Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantDY, I agree that this consideration might not fully apply to the vaccine.
Argument for bracha – prison/desert are not direct danger, they are just a place where you are very likely to get hurt. So, this is same as unvaccinated person during pandemic.
The way I thought bracha does not apply – a non-careful person’s danger is primarily due to his own actions. But, the danger would still exist for most reasonably behaving people and sources I quoted are ambiguous, so I’ll concede here.
Another interesting aspect raised by Minchas Elazar – we are supposed not to quote Torah in the name of those who are not careful. Anyone can help me understand Minchas Elazar and the sources? B Kama 61b seems to be referring only not to encouraging self-sacrificing, not fully disregarding such a scholar.
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