WhatsappYesterday, an Israeli media outlet that serves the Ultra-Orthodox population called Kikar Shabbat published an article in Hebrew titled “Daughter of (Prominent) Rabbi: They Threatened Me and Called Me a Killer”. The story was then picked up by English publications that serve the Ultra-Orthodox community in the United States, Yeshiva World News and VINnews. The YWN titled the article “Anti-Vaxxers Harass HaRav Chaim’s Daughter, Rebbetzin Leah Koledetsky”.
Rav Chaim is Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita, one of the most respected Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis alive today, whom many Ultra-Orthodox Jews all over the world look to for advice and guidance. Rav Chaim’s daughter, Rebbetzin Koledtsky, is not a young woman, she is a grandmother of her own, saying in the article that her children and grandchildren are all vaccinated.
In all three articles, Rebbetzin Leah Koledetsky speaks about an evening where a group of women, who she called “anti-vaxxers”, came to her to explain how dangerous the vaccine is to many people. The Rebbetzin claimed that they called her a “murderer” and other derogatory terms, said they wouldn’t leave until the Rebbetzin convinces her father, HaRav Chaim shlita, to issue an anti-vaccine statement and that she, the Rebbetzin, threatened them to call the police if they wouldn’t leave.
The article in the Hebrew press refers to this incident taking place last week while one English publication also says it took place last week and the other one gives no date to when the incident occurred. However, the incident described in both publications has an extremely close resemblance to an event that took place with Rav Chaim’s daughter back in July 2021. A video/audio recording of that event recently was published and went viral causing a huge shockwave in much of the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel and abroad. The video/audio clearly exposes many inconsistencies with the published story in the three different publications. Once again, we are left questioning how much we can trust the media for acurate reporting.
First of all, Rav Chaim’s daughter clearly says in the video/audio that Rav Chaim is not well, that he does not even recognize her, his daughter. Also, at no time did the women call Rebbetzin Koledtsky a murderer nor did the Rebbetzin threaten to call the police. They do tell her that people are dying from the vaccine and that many people are taking it because she is telling people to take it.
The video/audio recording of the event in July can be seen/heard right here. Everyone can watch and judge for themselves how similar it sounds to the account in the article while also paying close attention to the inconsistencies.
Could it be that the same event took place twice, in July and last week, with slight differences? Maybe. Could it be that the publication of these articles this week is an attempt to mitigate the damage of the recently released video/audio of the event that took place back in July? Maybe.
The Medical Practitioner from the Video/Audio Responds
The article quotes Rebbetzin Leah Koledetsk saying that “a few women came in, one of them brought me a stack of medical records, claiming that she took care of children with COVID and saved them without vaccines.”
The key woman in the video/audio from July 2021, which went viral recently, is a medical practitioner who prefers to remain anonymous because of the delegitimization and demonizing that happens to professionals who voice concerns about the vaccine. In the video/audio this medical practitioner explains the vast experience she has in treating covid patients as well as vaccine-injured patients and voices her great concern about the vaccine, relating to the vast amount of vaccine-injured patients she personally treated.
In referring to these recently printed articles, the medical practitioner in the video has told me that she “did NOT bring a stack of medical records. This was a stack of reports from the CDC on children who died, were permanently disabled, and otherwise injured by the vaccines. The ages in the report were 12 to 17. It took almost two reams of paper to print, with ten to 15 incidents on each page. I took a page from the top of the pile and the Rebbetzin refused to look at it.”
“We did not tell her that we took care of children with COVID. The whole time that I volunteered with various chesed (charity) organizations, there were only a few children with covid, all with mild cases not much worse than a common cold. The vast majority of the patients we treated were adults.”
“Another major lie in some of the articles is this one – ‘Amazingly, at one point Rav Chaim found out about the commotion, and asked to speak with the anti-vaxxers. He sat with them until 2 am, listening to their concerns and reading their records. He then discussed the claims extensively with doctors, and concluded that all the points they made against the vaccines were nonsense.‘ This never happened. We never saw Rav Chaim and the daughter told us that he doesn’t even recognize her. In addition, from my understanding, Rav Chaim doesn’t see women – so how could he have sat with us?”
“The article also quotes the Rebbetzin saying ‘They said that they [the pro-vaxxers] want to “decrease the birth rate but Baruch Hashem, the high birth rate has continued – almost ‘six at one time.’ All my daughters-in-law were vaccinated – before pregnancy, after pregnancy, or in middle of pregnancy – and everything was fine.‘
“Unfortunately, the number of calls that I get about miscarriages and also the scientific data says different. Dr. Herve Seligmann did a comprehensive study on this topic and found that fertility decreases with female vaccination rates.”
The medical practitioner is referring to Dr. Herve Seligmann. Dr. Seligmann examined fertility in countries that have massively vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to those that have not, and concludes that women’s fertility decreases the more women are vaccinated.
Below is a graph from the comprehensive study on the decrease in birth rates.
The medical practitioner explained the graph: “As you can see from the graph, as the percentage of the number of vaccinated increases, the birth rate drops. We start out with a fertility rate as high as 6-7%, and as vaccination progresses, it drops to between 1-3%. But this is not a discussion about who is right and who is wrong regarding the fertility issue. We never discussed the issue of fertility with the Rebbetzin. The tragic truth is that this is about understanding that the truth is being trampled on by the very people that we previously thought were the most trustworthy.”
“The Rebbetzin was always addressed in the third person and with respect. At no point was I or any of the other ladies disrespectful of her or of her assistants. She is the daughter of the Gadol Hador (The most respected Rabbi of the generation) and if for nothing else, deserves the respect for that.”
The articles also mention the following: “The Rebbetzin added that HaRav Chaim heard about what happened and even requested to hear out the anti-vaxxers. “They sat there for a long time, until two in the morning. The Rav listened to everything, looked at their documents and later spoke with doctors about their claims. Afterward, the Rav said that everything is fine and all the claims are shtuyot (foolishness) and therefore we have to continue to be vaccinated.”
However, the medical practitioner in the video told me that this never happened. “We were not allowed to see Rav Chaim. She told us that we should speak with Dr. Hart, the doctor who advises Rav Chaim on all medical issues. We never met with Rav Chaim. This is all fantasy. She told us clearly that Rav Chaim doesn’t know who she is anymore, as is recorded quite clearly in the video/audio of our visit. In addition, as clearly heard in the video/audio, she told us that she would no longer to tell anyone to get vaccinated.”
“The Rebbetzin never called the police. She told us to speak to Dr Hart, and whatever Dr Hart tells her to do, she would do. We left the Rebbetzin, thanked her for the audience, and went straight to Dr Hart.”
