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A place of worship in Saskatoon has made COVID-19 vaccines mandatory.
Starting Saturday, those attending the Congregation Agudas Israel synagogue need to roll up their sleeves to attend.
Rabbi Claudio Jodorkovsky joined Gormley to explain why they made that decision.
He said it wasn’t a tough choice.
“No, not at all. During the entire pandemic, there has been a very thoughtful discussion with the board of trustees on how to support the community during this difficult time. The discussion about vaccination, it was something that we had to have,” he said.
“There was no surprise, because we’re a small community and we know each other, that everyone was going to support this decision.”
However, there was some debate on how to make sure people had their vaccines.
“There were some discussions about how we implement this decision, but not about the principle,” he said.
In the end, he and the board decided that they could leave it up to trust.
“We are a small congregation and we are, in a sense, like a family. We trust in each other. We didn’t want to force people to disclose if they are vaccinated, but we are going to make sure that everyone knows that this is the requirement,” he said.
“The best way of describing this is thinking that if you have a family gathering and you want to invite all your cousins and your relatives, even if you have a relatively big party, you are not going to require the members of your family to show a vaccination card.”
He also acknowledges that not everyone can get a shot.
“Children under 12 and people who can not get a vaccine, they are welcome and encouraged to attend.”
