Local Rabbi reacts to viral post
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — A Nashville controversy brews on social media as a picture goes viral across the country.
A hat shop just south of downtown is selling “yellow badges” that say “not vaccinated.”
Many Jews were forced to wear similar badges in German-occupied areas during World War II to show that they were Jews.
News 4 asked a Rabbi for some historical perspective tonight.
“Using the yellow star, or any holocaust imagery for anything is a disservice to the memory of the 6 million Jews who were systematically murdered during the Holocaust,” Rabbi Laurie Rice of Congregation Micah in Brentwood said.
Rice says she has to believe the social media post is coming from a place of unfamiliarity and that she welcomes the opportunity to sit down with the store owner.
“One of the things I do appreciate about the message I think she is trying to put forward is ‘my body, my choice’,” Rice explained. “And I always appreciate a pro-choice woman and her right to choose for her body. Absolutely. But in this case my tradition, which is the Jewish tradition, teaches that we have to follow the science, and that ultimately our role as part of the human race is that we have to put the entire community at large in front of our own individual needs.”
“For me there’s no question,” Rice added. “Getting vaccinated is putting the community first.”
Tonight the controversial post has since been deleted.
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