Calling out the Forward And Rabbi Dr Aron Glatt

In last weeks edition of the Forward newspaper Rabbi Dr Aron Glatt is quoted as saying  

“It’s a form of avodah zora [idol worship] to believe in this anti-vaccine myth that all the doctors have this hidden agenda and we’re getting payoffs,” said Rabbi Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at South Nassau Communities Hospital and a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America. “It’s almost its own religion.”

Lets unpack this quote and respond. Firstly the Avodah Zara/Idolatry slur. Is that kind of slander and insult really neccasary coming from a Rabbi? Avodah Zara? Really?
Second, I don't believe in myths nor would I lump Rabbi Dr Glatt in with all other doctors. It is reasonable to suspect that Rabbi Glatt as a "spokesperson" for the Infectious Disease Society of America is likely getting some kind of compensation for that service which he provides to them. It is likely that as chief of Infectious diseases at South Nassau Communities Hospital that Rabbi Dr Glatt also receives remuneration for his services. South Nassau Communities Hospital is another example of a non profit medical provider organization that benefits financially from vaccines. In addition it appears they are also on the receiving end of funding from the CDC to help advocate and promote vaccines. SNCH has run advertising campaigns in the media to promote their vaccine program. In some of their advertisements they falsely (in my opinion) portray the concerns over the Autism MMR link as unfounded and debunked.
It is another example of taxpayer money and tax exempt money being used to benefit the pharmaceutical industry that profits from vaccines.
Rabbi Dr. Glatt as a beneficiary of  income derived in part from the vaccine industry  would be considered by Jewish Law/ Halacha to be biased (Nogea Badavar in Halachik terminology) and required to recuse himself from Halachik rulings in these matters.
Instead the article goes on with this quote - Glatt said that "for Orthodox Jews’ to use the religious exemption for vaccinations constituted sheker, or fraudulent behavior outlawed by Jewish law."
Clearly Rabbi Glatt either allowed his bias to cloud his judgment or he is ignorant of the legal basis of the the vaccine religious exemption laws. The religion in the religious exemption is defined as a "sincerely held belief" therefore even an atheist could legally claim the religious exemption if vaccination is against their sincerely held belief.
Falsely accusing other Jews of "sheker" and "fraudulent behavior" because they assert their legal rights, would appear to be a violation of Motzi Shem Ra, loosely translated as false and defamatory slander and would be "outlawed by Jewish Law".
The article is an example of a media hit piece designed to make Orthodox Jews and particularly Orthodox Jewish Anti Vaxxers look foolish, backward, and unscientific. At the end of the article the forward veers into antisemitic stereotype territory with the following sentences.
"Ironically, ultra-Orthodox Jews may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases than other communities are."
"The researchers concluded that yeshivas were the main site of infection for the teenage boys"
These statements were made in relation to various outbreaks of Mumps that occurred in yeshivas and in the Orthodox Community.Perhaps the author of the article (Ari Feldman) is unaware of the many outbreaks of Mumps on college campuses and elsewhere in populations that were 100% vaccinated. Perhaps Mr Feldman is unaware of the Federal whistleblower lawsuit against Merck for falsifying the efficacy of  the Mumps portion of the MMR vaccine in order to maintain their monopoly over that market. Perhaps Mr Feldman is unaware of the issues of selection pressure,type replacement,and mutant vaccine strains of Mumps caused by the vaccines.
Mr Feldman is entitled to the benefit of the doubt that he is just an ignoramus, but as a journalist he has a responsibility to research the facts and not engage in propaganda that seems to be culled from the pages of Der Shturmer
 

Glatt said that for Orthodox Jews’ to use the religious exemption for vaccinations constituted sheker, or fraudulent behavior outlawed by Jewish law. IRead more: https://forward.com/news/national/396728/ultra-orthodox-anti-vaxxers-push-yeshivas-to-admit-unvaccinated-students/

 
       

“It’s a form of avodah zora [idol worship] to believe in this anti-vaccine myth that all the doctors have this hidden agenda and we’re getting payoffs,” said Rabbi Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at South Nassau Communities Hospital and a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America. “It’s almost its own religion.”
Read more: https://forward.com/news/national/396728/ultra-orthodox-anti-vaxxers-push-yeshivas-to-admit-unvaccinated-students/

“It’s a form of avodah zora [idol worship] to believe in this anti-vaccine myth that all the doctors have this hidden agenda and we’re getting payoffs,” said Rabbi Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at South Nassau Communities Hospital and a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America. “It’s almost its own religion.”
Read more: https://forward.com/news/national/396728/ultra-orthodox-anti-vaxxers-push-yeshivas-to-admit-unvaccinated-students/

“It’s a form of avodah zora [idol worship] to believe in this anti-vaccine myth that all the doctors have this hidden agenda and we’re getting payoffs,” said Rabbi Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at South Nassau Communities Hospital and a spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America. “It’s almost its own religion.”
Read more: https://forward.com/news/national/396728/ultra-orthodox-anti-vaxxers-push-yeshivas-to-admit-unvaccinated-students/