A Bracha for the COVID Vaccine: A Celebration of Life Over Death (Vayechi 5781)

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Date:
December 30 2020
 
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4min 38s
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Parsha:

Collections: R' Brander 4 Minute Video Series

References: Berachot: 59b  

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The focus of this week’s parsha is not on the fact that Yaakov and Yosef died, but rather on the eternal narrative that lives on after their deaths, communicated through the blessings of their children. The “Vayechi” approach of celebrating life even as we deal with the tragedy of death resonates today, as we move toward – b’ezrat Hashem – to world immunity. We must remember that preserving our own health is nothing less than a Biblical directive. Furthermore, according to the Torah, we are also forbidden from standing idly by while the blood of another is being spilt. There is, therefore, a halakhic obligation to get vaccinated; to protect ourselves as well as to contribute to global herd immunity.

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    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Miriam & Alan Goldberg and Ruth Peyser Kestenbaum to mark the twelfth yahrtzeit of their father, Irwin Peyser, Harav Yisroel Chaim ben R' Dovid V' Fraidah Raizel Peyser and by Francine Lashinsky and Dr. Alexander and Meryl Weingarten in memory of Mary Wininger, Matel bat Ephraim, z"l on the occasion of her yahrzeit on the 29th of Shevat and in honor of their children, Mark, Michael, Julie, Marnie and Michelle, and in gratitude to Hashem for the release of Agam bat Meirav Berger and for the zechut of the other hostages and the chayalim