I'd love to see a video of the speech!

Not really a kashrut issue: if the chemical is used for medicinal rather than culinary purposes, and the extract being used could not be recognized as food ("even by a dog" is the rabbinic standard), then non-kosher animals can be used for this purpose to the same extent that their by-products could be used in soap or clothing or car seats, etc. Vaccinations don't render a child "impure" either according to "halakhic" standards or medical standards--and this quack's talk of "keeping his children pure" isn't just the most un-scientific part of his nonsense, it's also the most non-Jewish....

As far as vaccine inserts or other medicinal inserts go: I have a friend with a PhD in chemistry who writes these notices for a living; their language is there for legal purposes, not medical ones. The terminology is not only hyper-complicated (unless you have either a medical degree or advanced training in organic and biological chemistry, I'm guessing you don't understand the terminology any better than I do) but also hyper-cautious. They alert you to possible consequences of taking the vaccination (or tablet or salve, or whatever)--even if those consequences have a one in 10 million possibility of occurring according to the most extreme and unlikely of circumstances. That is to say, if a vaccine carries any risks of side effects at all--and none of the claims about autism or similarly apocalyptic scenarios have ever been proven or taken seriously by any qualified researcher--these risks are negligibly small in comparison with the obvious, documentable, potentially catastrophic results of a child contracting measles, the mumps, whooping cough, etc. If you read these inserts as evidence NOT to vaccinate, especially if you don't understand what they're saying and why they're included, then you are betraying your own paranoia.

In a society as "pure" as Wolfson imagines, people could have the right to refuse vaccination--and while we're at it, let's imagine a world where these catastrophic childhood diseases simply didn't exist. But in the world where we actually live, his bogus advice doesn't only put his own children at risk, it puts countless other children and babies at risk as well. No one should have the right to make those kind of choices, and no one should pay any attention to a person, licensed or otherwise, to argue to the contrary.

Speak for yourself, Pennywhistler; lot's of folks like me. I'm delightful.... And as for you, take a look at all the negative dings your comments are getting before you decide who's likable and who isn't...?

Pennywhistler, I'm making an assumption about you right now; as far as I can tell, you're confirming it, too....

I couldn't agree more, Qaz Wiz!!!

Thanks, mbrukhes

דאָס איז אַ שרעקלעכער אַרטיקל, אַ בלבול קעגן אַן אַמעריקאַנער העלד. װען מע טראַכט װעגן װי שטאַרק פֿאַרבונדן דער פֿאָרװערץ, אַלץ װאָרטזאָגער פֿאַר דער ייִדישער אַרבעטער בעאַװעגונג, איז געװען אין סאָלידעריטעט מיט דער ביגער־רעכט באַװעגנון, איז פּשט אַ שאַנד װאָס מע דרוקט אַזאַ באַלײדיקנדיקן און שאַבלאָנישן אַרטיקל קעגן ד“ר קינג הײַנט צו טאָג. זאָל מען בעסער געבן כּבוד זײַן אָנדענק!

And far fewer countries in the world with more Jews: if we don't stand with the Jews of France, who will?

There was police protection at Charlie Hebdo, as well--and two police officers were killed in the attack. As a rule of thumb, comfortable Americans shouldn't make a habit of second-guessing the security precautions of beleaguered people in other lands, and now unfortunately that definitely includes the Jews of France. We should instead sympathize with them and stand in solidarity, with our hearts and thoughts and prayers.

Nous sommes Charlie!

Yes, Dr. Goldstein was pushed over the edge--and he did exactly the same thing that the terrorists who killed the martyrs of Har Nof did: he murdered innocent people at prayer. As dreadful as the awful events of this week truly are, they aren't new, certainly not new to the practices of Palestinian terrorists, but in the instance of Baruch Goldstein unfortunately not new to the practice of Israeli terrorists, either--a handful of whom have repeatedly attempted to blow up the Dome of the Rock. Terrorism is terrorism, and it needs to be condemned whether the perpetrators are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist, Hindu--whatever. Until both sides recognize that the victims of terror on the other side are just as holy, just as innocent, just as deserving of life as their own people are, this is going to happen again and again and again. And Heaven help us all.