22 March 28 • 2019
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RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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Challenging 
Vaccines

Two local lawsuits ruled 
 in favor of schools, not 
parents of unvaccinated children.

A 

pair of lawsuits filed 
in 2015 
against Temple Israel and Hillel 
Day School, requiring them to 
accept unvaccinated children into their 
programs, highlights a fault line between 
religious institutions attempting to pro-
tect their communities from infectious 
diseases and those who choose not to 
vaccinate their children for philosophi-
cal or religious reasons.
Hillel was successful in defending a 
case brought by two families against the 
school, resulting in one family with-
drawing their children and the other 
having their son vaccinated. 
Ruvayn and Sara Rubinstein, whose 
children attended Temple Israel’
s Early 
Childhood Center preschool program 
the previous year, sued the school in 
2015 because it would no longer recog-
nize non-medical waivers. The case was 
heard by Oakland County Circuit Court 
Judge Shalina Kumar and then moved to 
federal court in the U.S. Eastern District. 
There, Judge John Corbett O’
Meara 
dismissed the Rubinsteins’
 constitutional 
claims that their religious rights were 
being violated because Temple Israel 
was not a governmental body. 
The case was sent back to Oakland 
County Circuit Court, where Judge 
Kumar granted Temple Israel’
s motion 
for summary disposition based on the 
“ecclesiastical abstention doctrine,
” 
which allows a secular court to refuse to 

address disputes involving religious mat-
ters. Rubinstein’
s attorney, Michael Ross, 
appealed the decision, but the Court 
of Appeals returned the case to Judge 
Kumar to review in light of recent case 
law changes. 
On Sept. 10, 2018, Judge Kumar 
dismissed the case again. Her written 
opinion stated that, because both parties 
were basing their claims on religious 
reasons, ruling on the case would 
require the court to resolve ecclesiastical 
questions, which it is not in a position to 
do. No further appeal is planned.
These lawsuits provide context as 
the recent national upsurge in reported 
cases of measles, including the outbreak 
this month in Oakland County and 
within its Jewish community, is sparking 
heated discussions about mandatory 
vaccinations and the use of non-medical 
waivers. 
Last week, the Council of Orthodox 
Rabbis of Greater Detroit issued the fol-
lowing statement:
“In light of the recent spread of measles 
in our community, each and every indi-
vidual is halachically obligated to take the 
necessary precautions to protect one’
s self 
and family, and to prevent the spread of 
the disease to others.
“Due to the outbreak, the Michigan 
Department of Health has issued updated 
vaccination guidelines. Every member of 
the community should follow those guide-

lines to ensure they are fully vaccinated.
”
The statement also said Halachah 
(Jewish law) permits institutions such 
as schools, day care facilities and camps 
to exclude unvaccinated people for the 
health protection of others. It also states 
Jewish institutions should only accept 
valid medical exemptions granted by 
physicians supportive of vaccinations. 
Measles, a disease largely eradicat-
ed in the U.S. by 2000, re-emerged as 
a public health threat in 2015, which 
ramped up last year when the number 
of cases tripled, from 120 reported cases 
in 2017 to 372 cases in 2018. At press 
time, 314 measles cases have been con-
firmed in 15 states, including Michigan. 
 
The increase in outbreaks 
has prompted the World Health 
Organization to include “vaccine hesi-
tancy,
” the refusal to immunize against 
vaccine-preventable diseases, among its 
top 10 global health threats in 2019. 
The Centers for Disease Control says 
infected visitors from other countries 
caused the disease to become active 
again. By 2014, the number of measles 
cases soared to a record high of 667, 
prompting private schools and religious 
institutions nationally to review and 
tighten vaccination policies. This result-
ed in a decline in measles outbreaks, 
with 188 cases in 2015 and 86 in 2016.

VACCINATION AND THE LAW
The Michigan public health code 
requires children to be vaccinated to 
attend school, public or private, licensed 
day care centers and preschools. 
Children who cannot be vaccinated 
because of a medical reason, such as an 
allergy, are exempted if they have a phy-
sician-issued medical waiver. 
Without a medical waiver, parents 
who choose not to vaccinate their 
children must obtain a waiver from 
their county health department. While 
all states accept medical waivers and 
most (47) allow religious exceptions, 
Michigan is one of 17 states that allows 
exemptions for philosophical reasons. 
Parents are required to watch a short 
video and receive information about the 
risks of not vaccinating before the waiv-
er will be granted.
In 2015, when measles cases spiked, 
local religious institutions changed their 
policies to accept unvaccinated children 
with medical waivers only. Those with 
waivers based on religious or philo-
sophical reasons were not permitted to 
attend, which prompted the lawsuits 
against Hillel and Temple Israel. 

“In 2015, fewer people were getting 
vaccinated; it was becoming a dan-
ger,
” said Hillel Head of School Steve 
Freedman. “Hundreds of schools revis-
ited their policies and we were among 
them. We worked with the parents; we 
didn’
t expect (unvaccinated) children to 
get 15 shots at once.
”
Representing Temple Israel, attorney 
David Sims presented evidence showing 
how Jewish law supports mandatory 
vaccination. The school’
s defense includ-
ed a ruling by the Union for Reform 
Judaism as well as relevant tenets from 
the Torah and the Talmud.
 “The Reform movement had issued 
a religious ruling supporting univer-
sal vaccination, and we felt bound to 
uphold that,
” said Temple Israel Rabbi 
Paul Yedwab, who wrote an affidavit 
citing Jewish principles applicable to the 
exclusion of voluntarily unvaccinated 
children. These included the command-
ment to exclude lepers for the good of 
the community and the Jewish doctrine 
of self-defense, which also applies to 
medical situations and allows citizens to 
stop those who might cause them harm.

THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE
Attorney Joel Dorfman, founder of 
Michigan for Vaccine Choice, believes 
vaccination should be a personal 
choice, not a legal mandate. He said the 
current measles scare is overblown.
“It’
s a benign disease for over 99 
percent of the population,” he said. “It’
s 
extremely rare to die from measles.”
Dorfman, who said he provided 
financial support for the Rubinsteins’
 
lawsuit against Temple Israel, disagreed 
with the outcome of that case, saying 
Temple Israel violated the law by refus-
ing to accept a waiver based on reli-
gious reasons. He believes the vaccines, 
as well as the schedule for administer-
ing them, causes more harm than the 
diseases they are intended to prevent.
Meanwhile, at press time, 18 cases 
of measles in Metro Detroit have been 
confirmed, and the number of loca-
tions visited by infected individuals 
from March 14-21 has grown to 25. 
While the original exposures were 
in the Oak Park and Southfield area, 
potential exposure locations now 
include Berkley, Bloomfield Hills, 
Madison Heights, Novi, Pontiac, Royal 
Oak, West Bloomfield and Farmington 
Hills.
For daily updates, go to oakgov.com/
health. ■

