Not surprisingly, some people have questioned why they should believe Rav Chaim is a hostage in his own home, a victim of elder abuse, and is having words put in his mouth by Zionist mafiosos.  How do they know the people reporting this are not making it up?  Where is the evidence?

To that I respond as follows:

1. This skepticism would be healthy if it were applied in equal measure to media reports about Rav Chaim supposedly ruling this or that.  Does the media have greater credibility just because they have a larger microphone?  Does someone who speaks on behalf of the government – whether in an official capacity or as an influencer who himself is being "encouraged" to promote their message – have greater credibility just because they have a larger microphone?  Shouldn't the OPPOSITE be true? 

So if the only "evidence" they have is that someone said Rav Chaim said something, despite having all the power and all the microphones under their control, that alone is reason to be highly skeptical.  Why are the people raising these questions not equally skeptical of the other side?

2. The people who shared these eyewitness reports could not publicly share their names because it would endanger their lives.  Ask your friends what they would do if they witnessed this personally and understood this was a mafia situation.  Would they be willing to die to go fully public?  Would they be willing to die to try to smuggle out video evidence? If not, is it fair to deny that anything short of someone going fully public and smuggling out video evidence is reason to accept that there is something seriously rotten going on?

3. Why do they believe Rav Chaim really issued these rulings? Because someone said so? Why is that more believable? Because the media reported that someone said so? How is this a ruling?  How is this evidence?  If Rav Chaim really said these things, wouldn't the people who desperately want him to say these things have been sure to have a thousand recordings of it just to be sure, and to send these recordings all over the world?  So why are there no recordings of this? A mumbled "yes" by someone who is barely conscious to a leading question he may not have heard or understood is not a halachic ruling.

The burden of proof that he DID make these rulings, he was fully informed, and he is fully capable of making these rulings is squarely on THEM.  THEY have no evidence, and they do not deserve our trust – certainly not with everyone's bodies and souls on the line.

4. Why would so many regular, upstanding Jews, including rabbis, who have no financial interest, conflict of interest, or history of making up stories suddenly all make up these stories about Rav Chaim?  Why is that more believable than the notion that people who have every conflict of interest under the sun and a history of lying, and enjoy total control over Rav Chaim's life, would make something up?

5. It is easy for anyone who wishes to ask around and verify that the situation with Rav Chaim is exactly as described.  Why do these "skeptics" not care enough about the truth, with the incredibly high stakes involved, to ask around and speak to people who have been there and seen with their own eyes? Why do they want to readily dismiss this instead of allowing for the possibility that something rotten is going on over there?  Can it be that they are essentially “bribing” themselves because the truth is too ugly for them to deal with, and they want to just wish this all away by pretending there is no “evidence”?

6. Rav Uri Sofer is willing to vouch for the information in the report.  As far as I know, Rav Sofer does not have a history of making up stories, and is not being paid off by the international, uber-wealthy anti-vaxx oligarchs.  Neither am I.

7. I have attached another testimonial*, this one from a member of the religious Jewish media who cannot share his name at this time for fear of reprisals.  Again, those who wish to deny the veracity of his words because of this are free to do so.  If nothing short of ironclad "evidence" that would receive a unanimous conviction in a court of law would suffice to influence them, then they should not be moved. 

Never mind that those who produce such evidence would likely not live long enough to present it in a court of law.  If that is the bar your "rational" friends set for seriously considering something that contradicts their religious belief in the establishment, so be it.  Let them cling to their religious belief in the establishment until the bitter end.

If, however, they are truly rational, they should seriously consider this.  They should demand from their media of choice to be more forthcoming about what they are reporting, where their information is coming from, and whether their media of choice is compromised.  Just like they do from those who challenge the information being reported in their media of choice.

The people who control Rav Chaim's life cannot be questioned, and those reporting what they are told to report will not give answers.  The evidence that something rotten is going on might not earn a conviction in a court of law at present, but it is damning nonetheless. 

* I witness that the Health Ministry Haredi Liaison Unit has issued press kits on Rav Kanievsky and his family including press release, photo, and voice recording to outlets such as the one I worked for, pushing the vaccine, and that we were instructed to redact any sign that the story was part of a public relations campaign, but to make the article appear as a spontaneous news story, quoting the Rabbi's daughter as if her words were genuine, and not part of an orchestrated campaign.