Don’t Be So Quick to Condemn

I was pained to read the letter by A. Finkel, and surprised that Hamodia would print an opinion that was so vindictive. If we were less emotional and more factual when discussing this topic, we could have more mutual respect and ahavas Yisrael.

I truly believe that most Yiddishe mamas want only the best for their families.

I am what I consider to be a responsible mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, bli ayin hara. As a mother, I tried to do research in order to make informed decisions about my family’s health. For example, I was taking folic acid to prevent birth defects. The research was there in the 1950s, yet it took the March of Dimes until the 1990s to get that message out!

Today there are many more allergies than when I was raising my family. The medical journal Pediatrics had a study in 2009 of almost 15,000 children between the ages of 5 and 13 years. They found that children who had the measles, but not the measles vaccine, were less likely to be diagnosed with any allergies! In the words of the researchers, “Our data suggest that measles infection may protect against allergic disease in children.”

Some of my children vaccinate, and some do not. Those that vaccinate do not worry about their unvaccinated relatives, as they feel the vaccinations are effective. Those that don’t vaccinate feel that a healthy child can weather the normal childhood diseases, and if they do get sick they will have lifelong immunity to that disease (which is not the case in those who got the shot).

If you are interested in more information, speak to someone you know who has made a conscious decision about her children’s health. Please don’t be so quick to condemn others.

May Hashem spare all of us from illness, Rachmana litzlan, so we can serve Him in good health.

 

Rochel Braun

Monsey, New York

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