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January 1, 2021

The Blessing of 2021: Should One Say a Bracha when Receiving the COVID Vaccine?

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier is Director of Education and a member of the Drisha faculty. A Research Fellow in Philosophy of Religion at Notre Dame, he received his PhD in Ancient Judaism at Yale University and was a member of Yeshiva University’s Kollel Elyon. Previously he served as Director of the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Yale University and as the Flegg postdoctoral fellow in Jewish Studies at McGill University.

Shlomo is an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion and RIETS, as well as of the Wexner and Tikvah Fellowships. He has lectured and taught widely across North America, as well as at Yale Divinity School, Yeshiva University, the Tikvah Fund, and Bnot Sinai. A Founder of The Lehrhaus, Shlomo serves on the Editorial Committee of Tradition and has edited two books on contemporary Jewish thought.

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As the challenging year 2020 comes to a close and we enter 2021, the blessing of a COVID vaccine is being rolled out. How should we respond to this positive development, and particularly what Bracha or other prayer is appropriate to be recited upon receiving the vaccine?

- 01/01/2021
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