Avodah Mailing List

Volume 32: Number 121

Wed, 13 Aug 2014

• 1. Re: Insights Into Halacha: Smoking and Halacha: A Historical, Perspective (David Riceman)
• 2. Smoking and Halacha (Richie)
• 3. Re: Flat Earth (and Kabala) (Micha Berger)
• 4. Re: Insights Into Halacha: Smoking and Halacha: A Historical Perspective (Micha Berger)
• 5. Re: Insights Into Halacha: Smoking and Halacha: A Historical Perspective (Rich, Joel)
• 6. A Judaic Explanation of Mindfulness (Rich, Joel)
• 7. Re: A Judaic Explanation of Mindfulness (Kenneth Miller)
• 8. Re: A Judaic Explanation of Mindfulness (Rich, Joel)
• 9. Re: A Temple in Flames (Micha Berger)
• 10. Re: The Chatam Sofer and the Admor of Munkatch Say Not to Daven for Peace! (Micha Berger)
• 11. Re: The Chatam Sofer and the Admor of Munkatch Say Not to Pray for Peace! (Micha Berger)
• 12. Re: Insights Into Halacha: Smoking and Halacha: A Historical, Perspective (Zev Sero)
• 13. Flat Earth (and Kabala) (David Wacholder)
• 14. Re: Insights Into Halacha: Smoking and Halacha: A Historical, Perspective (Rich, Joel)
• 15. Re: Insights Into Halacha: Smoking and Halacha: A Historical, Perspective (Micha Berger)

RAM:

<<The halacha is not to do unhealthy things>>

I can think of examples of Hazal prohibiting behavior which has small 
probability of doing large amounts of harm quickly, but I can't think of 
examples of Hazal prohibiting acts which have high probabilities of 
doing small but cumulative amounts of harm.  So I think "unhealthy" is 
too general a term.

David Riceman

What I find very interesting are all the rationalizations to not make smoking
assur. To allow it because people cannot stop defies reality. There are
very frum chain smokers who immediately stop cold turkey on Shabbos and Yom
Tov and think nothing of it. Also, with all due respect, to compare smoking
to driving a car is an invalid analogy regarding Halacha.

Sent from my iPhone

My argument for assuming that much of Chazal believed in a round earth,
and that those rishonim who didn't -- if any -- consciously considered
and rejected the idea. was based on the history of science. In both the
West and in Bavel -- the empires chazal lived under -- the notion of a
flat earth went out the window centuries to over a millenium before the
mishnah was compiled.

Although I do believe there are rishonim who misunderstood chazal because
they didn't realize that the Persians believed in a round earth under
that semipherical sky.

Xianity had a thing against mada, and in fact the inquiring mindset
in general, as they thought it would get int he way of faith. Emunah
isn't faith. So there was some strand of Xian thought that rejected
the spherical earth, primarily as a way of keeping the masses pure. But
really this is more the Romantic (cap-R) myth of the Dark Ages than what
people were actually believing. (Notice that despite the Qur'an 88:17-20
speaking of the earth being made flat, Islam didn't have flat-earthers.)

Just summing up, in case anyone thought my point was religious or textual.

But now I do have a new (for me) finding, and a religious question...

Yeshaiah 40:22, "hayoshev al chug ha'aretz".

And to know what a chug is, I would also raise
    "veychug hashmayim yis'haleikh" (Iyov 22:14)
    "choq chaq al penei mayim..." (Iyov 26:10)

Rashi on Yeshiah says it's by natural law an ugal ("compass" bela'az). The
connection between chug and choq reqyures figuring out Iyov 26, which
is too poetically dense for me to decipher. In a different vein, RSRH
links chag to choq to the circular time in which we view our chagim.

Rashi also uses the Old French "compass" in Iyov 22. And Metzudas Tzion
on Yeshiahah describes a compass, where one leg sits in the central point,
and the one that goes around is call the chug. He says the "chug ha'aretz"
is the shamayim. But the MT doesn't explain what the chug hashmayim,
that which goes around the sky, in Iyov 22.

Malbim on Yeshiah also defined chug ha'aretz as shamayim.

All of which presumed a geocentric universe, or at least a geocentric
idiom.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
mi...@aishdas.org        I awoke and found that life was duty.
http://www.aishdas.org   I worked and, behold -- duty is joy.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                        - Rabindranath Tagore

1- I'm inclined to wonder, given RnTK's and RJR's comments, whether it's
enough to discuss risk w/out discussing benefits. Crossing a street has
neligable danger compared to the loss of being stuck on the same block
for the test of your life.

Avoiding the difficulty of kicking a tobacco habit might offset the risk
from smoking it. That would address part of the teshuvah in IM, but not
the argument from precedent.

The cost-benefit profiles of tobacco and marijuana smoking differ greatly.

Overeating carries its own unique issues -- you can quit smoking,
but you can't quite eating! You have to artificially create a line
between appropriate and over- eating and quit overeating. But in
reality the "line" is a broad blug. We would need to invent some kind of
shiur. (Overeaters Anonymous addresses this issue, since "cold turkey"
is a fundamental part of 12-Stop programming.)


There is a second issue, and that is that each smoke (or each piece of
empty calories) reinforces an addiction. So one has to not only cound the
added risk of the one cigarette (or brownie) but also its contribution
to the risk of future cigarretes, and the cigarettes they in turn make
more likely, recursively.

The risk of eating a bug does not include it increasing the risk of
eating the next bug.

I ding RAM's opening question:
: I have never been able to follow that logic. ....The halacha is not
: to do unhealthy things, and that will change dependent on the current
: medical knowledge.

: Can anyone help me understand what Rav Moshe is saying?

... quite compelling.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             There's only one corner of the universe
mi...@aishdas.org        you can be certain of improving,
http://www.aishdas.org   and that's your own self.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                 - Aldous Huxley

1- I'm inclined to wonder, given RnTK's and RJR's comments, whether it's
enough to discuss risk w/out discussing benefits. 
=======================
You were mchavein to the FDA:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/health/pleasure-
factor-may-override-new-tobacco-rules.html

Rarely has the concept of happiness caused so much consternation in public health circles.

Buried deep in the federal government's voluminous new tobacco regulations
is a little-known cost-benefit calculation that public health experts see
as potentially poisonous: the happiness quotient. It assumes that the
benefits from reducing smoking - fewer early deaths and diseases of the
lungs and heart - have to be discounted by 70 percent to offset the loss in
pleasure that smokers suffer when they give up their habit.


KT
Joel Rich
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I came across an interesting quote:


"A Judaic Explanation of Mindfulness
Jonathan Feiner, PhD


To clarify further, when jealousy or a different unpleasant emotion arises
there are three possible orientations.	A judgmental and non-compassionate
attitude is "I am feeling jealous; I must rid myself of that feeling
immediately".  As stated before, this may be counterproductive and may lead
to dejection.  A nonjudgmental attitude may be "I am having a thought and
feeling of jealousy.  Though unpleasant, that is okay, since a thought is
just a thought and a feeling is just psychological well-being in the
present moment it is not consistent with halakha.  A judgmental and
compassionate orientation is "I am having an unpleasant thought and feeling
of jealousy.  I wish I were already on a level where I did not have such
thoughts and feelings, yet I am clearly not there yet.	That is okay, since
serving God is a lifelong mission.  Perhaps I should place more emphasis on
studying materials and engaging in behaviors that may decrease these
feelings."  Once again, the Judaic appro
 ach places less of an emphasis on acceptance in the present moment and a greater emphasis on change for the future."

Does the chevrah think that is OK halachically or just that it is understandable?

KT
Joel Rich



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R' Joel Rich quoted Dr Jonathan Feiner:

> ... I am clearly not there yet.  That is okay, since serving God
> is a lifelong mission. Perhaps I should place more emphasis on
> studying materials and engaging in behaviors that may decrease
> these feelings. ...

I don't see anything new here that hasn't already been discussed in other
talks about guilt and teshuva. Proper amounts of guilt feelings are good,
because they push us to teshuva. But an overabundance of it causes
depression and accomplishes nothing. As always, the middle of the road is
best.

> Once again, the Judaic approach places less of an emphasis on
> acceptance in the present moment and a greater emphasis on change
> for the future.

This part *is* new to me. Dr Feiner's approach seems to have a real danger
of putting too much emphasis on the future, and may lead to serious
procrastination. One must distinguish between the distant future and the
immediate future. Do not say "someday" I'll be better; Begin your program
NOW, and you'll immediately be a slightly better person than you were a
minute ago, even if it is a slow climb.

I often tell my kids and others: Where you're holding is not as important
and the direction you're going. And if you're going in the right direction,
even the speed you go is not as important as the fact that you're going
forward. Just don't get stuck, and certainly do your best not to fall
behind.

Akiva Miller
____________________________________________________________
The #1 Worst Carb Ever?
Click to Learn #1 Carb that Kills Your Blood Sugar (Don't Eat This!)
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/53eba67ff173e267f1b5est04vuc

> ... I am clearly not there yet.  That is okay, since serving God
> is a lifelong mission. Perhaps I should place more emphasis on
> studying materials and engaging in behaviors that may decrease
> these feelings. ...

I don't see anything new here that hasn't already been discussed in other
talks about guilt and teshuva. Proper amounts of guilt feelings are good,
because they push us to teshuva. But an overabundance of it causes
depression and accomplishes nothing. As always, the middle of the road is
best.

======================================
I agree that I've heard it before but I still wonder as to the decision
algorithm.  Let's substitute another avodah topic for a minute, smoking. 
Let's say a smoker gets a psak that it is assur to smoke and he has 2 paths
- one to go cold turkey and one which takes you to a nonsmoking status in
one year. How does one make a risk/reward decision.  Assuming probabilities
are used, how does one evaluate them for a specific individual? How does
one evaluate a year's worth of non halachic behavior? (or is this a maaseh
hatzalah as in Aquinas/chazon ish diverting the arrow.	I'm just not sure
I'd call this OK, rather perhaps perceived as the best we can do (some
would argue that even this is not true, that we could all go cold turkey on
all sins)

KT

Joel Rich
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On Sun, Aug 10, 2014 at 07:42:23PM +0300, Eli Turkel via Avodah wrote:
: Interesting I have found no mention of a high priest Yishmael as is noted
: in the famous piyutim on the asarah harugei malchut. OTOH R Shimon ben
: Gamliel was a known leader.

His qever is in the Druze village of Sajur (Shazor) on the
Ako-Tzefas road, near Teveria and Carmiel.
Picture: http://j.mp/1ov0SLy

In Shaar haGilgulim, the Ari says he was a gilgul of Yoseif haTzadiq.

Wikipedia repeats the theory, without attribution, that
    A reasonable case can be made that there never was an Ishmael ben
    Elisha Ha Kohen or an Ishmael ben Elisha, High Priest of a High
    Priest. The name "Ishmael ben Elisha" is the Rabbinically sanctioned
    name by which to enter into The Record (i.e., Mishna; Gemara; Midrash
    Rabbah; and the Midrash Halakha) the vast Halakhic and Hermeneutic
    achievements of the apostate "Elisha ben Abbuya." Rabbi Meir and
    Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi were key for this quasi "rehabilitation" of
    "Akher" through the adage: "Remember his Torah but not his name." As
    in the New Testament, the Bavli allows for obfuscation with a range
    of motivations. The obfuscation is "doubling" of a name with an
    adjustment. The Priesthood "Ishmael" <both Priesthood titles> is
    thus a cognomen for a cognomen.

And in this year's 9 beAv To Go, Dr Deena Rabinovitch
<http://download.yutorah.org/2014/1053/Tisha_Bav_To-Go_-_5774_Dr_
Rabinovich.pdf>
lists the lack of record of a Yishmael Kohein Gadol -- and recall that
the Hasmonians and thus the Tzeduqim owned the office back then --
among her indications that the story of the 10 Harugei Malkhus is
ahistorical metaphor.

Although if Yishmael ben Elisha Kohein Gadol really means "Acher
who evolved from Elisha ben Avuyah the Perushi", then perhaps it's
no proof of ahistoricity.

But either would require taking the story of Kimchis as ahistorical,
since her reward was to see all 7 of her sons, including R' Yishmael,
serve as kohein gadol. But if there was no Yishmael kohein gadol, even
if YbEKG and Yishmael ben Kimchis were not supposed to be the same
person, her story couldn't be historical.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             In the days of our sages, man didn't sin unless
mi...@aishdas.org        he was overcome with a spirit of foolishness.
http://www.aishdas.org   Today, we don't do a mitzvah unless we receive
Fax: (270) 514-1507      a spirit of purity.      - Rav Yisrael Salanter

On Sun, Aug 10, 2014 at 04:25:55PM -0700, R Allan Engel wrote:
: On 10 August 2014 16:18, Micha Berger wrote:
:> The last 3 berakhos are hodayah, not baqashah. The question is more
:> why "Sim shalom" opens belashon tzivui, if we're supposed to be
:> appreciating the peace and its consequences that He does, rather
:> than requesting more peace.

: What about the Beracha of Hashkiveinu?

Same problem as Sim Shalom. It's part of a ge'ulah arichta, and thus
a declaration of emunah that HQBH can help as a prelude to Tefillah
and requesting that help. (Semichas ge'ulah letefilah -- first emunah
that He has helped, then bitachon that He would help, then we can
actually ask for help.)

So, it's the same problem -- the tefillah isn't intended as a request,
so why are most of the verbs belashon tzivui?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             You will never "find" time for anything.
mi...@aishdas.org        If you want time, you must make it.
http://www.aishdas.org                     - Charles Buxton
Fax: (270) 514-1507

On Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 09:03:40PM +0300, REMT wrote:
:      If they say so, who are we to argue?  All we can do is pray that Oseh
: shalom bimromav Hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu v'al kol Yisraeil.

This could be lashon asid, rather than tzivui. No?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

On 13/08/2014 10:07 AM, David Riceman via Avodah wrote:
> RAM:
>> The halacha is not to do unhealthy things

> I can think of examples of Hazal prohibiting behavior which has small
> probability of doing large amounts of harm quickly, but I can't think
> of examples of Hazal prohibiting acts which have high probabilities
> of doing small but cumulative amounts of harm. So I think "unhealthy"
> is too general a term.

Exactly. I have raised this objection before, to the claim that smoking
can fall under "venishmartem". There is simply no source for including a
practise that has no probability of killing one. Nobody has ever smoked
a cigarette and dropped dead of it. And there is nobody whose death can
be definitively attributed even to a lifetime of heavy smoking. Thus,
it cannot be compared to *any* of the examples we have of practises
banned under the rubric of "venishmartem".

Each cigarette smoked, over the fairly low threshold of one a day,
slightly increases the statistical likelihood that the smoker's life
will be shorter than it would otherwise have been. The evidence for
this is overwhelming, and only an idiot would, knowing this, nevertheless
take the habit up. But there is nothing in the gemara or in any rishon
or acharon that forbids a similar practise, which could be used as a
precedent for banning it.

By the way, in some of these discussions it appears that some people
believe "venishmartem" is an issur de'oraisa, that there is an actual
pasuk that orders us to protect our health. As anyone who read last
week's sedra knows, this is not true. The pasuk has nothing to do with
health or life, and the rabbinic prohibitions associated with it use it
as an asmachta.


On 13/08/2014 6:23 AM, Richie via Avodah wrote:
> Also, with all due respect, to compare smoking to driving a car is an
> invalid analogy regarding Halacha.

On the contrary, the analogy works the other way. Every time you step
into a car, you know that there is a non-zero chance that you will not
get out alive. Every day people are killed because they were travelling
in cars. But when you light a cigarette you have no reason at all to
suppose that you will not live to finish it. Nobody has ever smoked a
cigarette and dropped dead of it.

What's more, even when a heavy smoker dies of lung cancer, we can't
definitively state that the two facts are related; we can only say
that there's a high probability that they are. People got lung cancer
before smoking was invented, and if smoking were to disappear entirely
people would continue to get it, so no individual instance of it can be
definitively attributed to smoking. But when someone dies in a car crash,
there's no doubt that it was his mode of travel that killed him.

So if travelling by car is not forbidden under "venishmartem", then it
would seem that kal vachomer that smoking can't be. (There are other
factors that may outweigh this argument, but considered strictly on its
own it's sound.)

-- 
Zev Sero             Sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable
z...@sero.name        from malice.
                                                          - Eric Raymond

R' Micha just focused our meditation on this group of passages:
> Yeshaiah 40:22, "hayoshev al chug ha'aretz". [Inhabits even the extreme
outer Lands - circumscribed by Compass]
>
     "veychug hashmayim yis'haleikh" (Iyov 22:14)[As in Heavens he strolls
beyond the furthest horizons
>     "choq chaq al penei mayim..." (Iyov 26:10) [as on the Waters He
encircles all of their limitless extent ]

We have the Unique domination of Land Heaven adn the Sea, three main parts
of the World.

Chug - the Greek compass ideal - my first quick approach was this:
Think of running  one  lap on a circular track, or making one circle with a
"compass" - the point and pencil kind that younger students never heard of.


 Then he asks - is this "figurative" or poetic flowery language? Can we
discern Iyov's actual geographic axioms from these passages?
Perhaps this gives proof of a geocentric Weltanschauung? Or of  a
geocentric model of the physical universe? , or at least a geocentric  idiom?
.
>
Are the backdrops and settings total metaphors? Or are they metaphor on
background of reality - even though the Heavens is a reality, the
foreground - the "physical analogy" of a figure walking where it is
impossible to walk - is a metaphor. Apologies for my lack of proper
terminology in literary devices. 

I feel unable to respond to R' Micha's challenge. Only very recently
I embarrassed myself by forgetting a similar pasuk from
Tehilim 103(?) - Bar-chi Nafshi of Rosh Chodesh: Uniquely He puts his
clouds as chariots, as Uniquely He travels on Wings of Wind
[Hasam avim rechuvo - ham - haleich al kanfei Ruach...].

Now R' Micha adds " Uniquely He strolls as at leisure the very Circuit
/Sphere of the Heavens" . It depends on a level metaphor it would be like
a circular track, or in three dimensions r the Sphere of the Universe,
the largest physical sphere.


This brings me to a thought-experiment.


Let us presume for the moment that a powerful poet such as Emily Dickinson
wishes to accept Judaism. Would the fact that she thinks totally in
picturesque metaphors - no abstract abilities - make her ineligible to
be Jewish?


David Wacholder
Email: dwachol...@gmail.com
dwachol...@optonline.net

I have raised this objection before, to the claim that smoking
can fall under "venishmartem". There is simply no source for including a
practise that has no probability of killing one. Nobody has ever smoked
a cigarette and dropped dead of it
=================================================
Would you say someone with emphysema would be forbidden to smoke as it could trigger a fatal attack?
KT
Joel Rich
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Recall that this is a legitimate machloqes acharonim.

While RMF is meiqil, there are MAJOR oserim. It would be foolhardy
to say either position is self-evident. Here is the most relevant
portion of <http://ohr.edu/5717>, but R' Yehuda Spitz goes on beyond
this in the same vein.


   Smoking and Halacha
   A Historical Perspective
   by Rabbi Yehuda Spitz

   ...
   However, in the words of Rav Asher Weiss shlit"a[10], nowadays the
   real question is not whether or not smoking is permitted on Yom Tov;
   it is whether or not smoking is permitted at all!

   In 1964, the United States Surgeon General released his initial report
   stating the health risks associated with smoking. Since then, there
   have been thousands of scientific studies and reports detailing the
   hazards of smoking. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one
   out of every five deaths in Americaeach year is caused by smoking.
   Other reports estimate that 15% of smokers eventually die of lung
   cancer. Compounded with the elevated risk of emphysema, stroke and
   coronary disease, studies indicate that smokers face a much higher
   mortality rate.

   Now that we are aware of the true "health benefits" of smoking, the
   question is whether or not there remains a hetter to engage in this
   socially acceptable self-destructive behavior.

   The Gadol HaDor, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l, in a brief teshuva dated
   several months after the Surgeon General's initial report[11], wrote
   that although it is certainly appropriate to abstain from smoking,
   nevertheless, one cannot say that smoking is outright assur, as there
   are many people that smoke. Therefore, smokers fit into the category
   of `shomer pesaim Hashem', `Hashem watches over fools'[12]. Rav Moshe
   adds that especially since many Gedolim smoked, it is impossible to
   say that such an act is truly forbidden[13]. This responsum seems to
   be the primary justification for many a smoker.

   Several other contemporary authorities wrote similarly, explaining
   that although it may not be proper to smoke, it still is not truly
   prohibited by halacha. Yet, subsequently, and as the knowledge of
   the health risks associated with smoking became more widespread
   and universally acknowledged, and the number of smokers starting
   dropping, many of these poskim changed their psak to reflect the
   emerging reality, using extremely harsh terms to decry smoking,
   with many authorities outright forbidding it.

   These contemporary authorities include Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt"l,
   the Tzitz Eliezer, Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul zt"l, and Rav Ovadia
   Yosef zt"l[14], who, contrary to their earlier psakim, in their
   later rulings all came out strongly against smoking. Other poskim,
   including Rav Aharon Kotler zt"l, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l, the
   Debreciner Rav zt"l, Rav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner, Rav Chaim Kanievsky,
   Rav Moshe Sternbuch, the Rivevos Efraim zt"l, and Rav Asher Weiss,
   wrote unequivocally about the dangers of smoking and how it is not
   permitted, with some even referring to smoking as `suicidal'[15].

   In fact, many Gedolim, including Rav Elyashiv zt"l, Rav Aharon Yehuda
   Leib Steinman, Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz zt"l, Rav Moshe Shmuel
   Shapiro zt"l, Rav Nissim Karelitz, and Rav Shmuel Auerbach, recently
   (in Av 2004) signed a Kol Koreh against smoking, even imploring those
   who do smoke to do everything in their power to stop[16].

   Although it is known that many Gedolim smoked (and do smoke), it
   is highly probable that they started before the risks were known,
   and now simply cannot quit, due to their nicotine addiction. If they
   would be able to do so, they certainly would[17]. Anecdotally, this
   author's Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Leib Bakst zt"l, quit cold turkey after a
   doctor personally explained the health risks of smoking to him. Even
   mv"r Rav Yaakov Blau zt"l (of the Eida Chareidis), a tremendous Gaon
   and quintessential old-time Yerushalmi (heavy smoker), and the Dejer
   Rebbe of Miami, Rav Yehuda Paneth zt"l, both attempted to cut down
   in their later years.

   In fact, even Rav Moshe himself, in subsequent teshuvos dated 1981[18],
   took a much stronger stance against smoking due to the health risks
   involved. Although he still would not call smoking outright assur,
   he nonetheless rules that due to the dangers of second-hand smoke,
   it is forbidden to smoke where it will bother others (a psak later
   echoed by other authorities[19]), and concludes with an exhortation
   that everyone, especially Bnei Torah, should not begin to smoke due to
   the chashash sakana, adding that it is assur to `get addicted'. It may
   be interesting to note that many Bnei Yeshiva, who would never dream
   of relying on Rav Moshe's hetter regarding Chalav Stam, paradoxically
   seemingly have no qualms relying on his hetter for `lighting up',
   even though the wording of his halachic dispensation is quite similar.

   Over a hundred years ago, the Chofetz Chaim[20] expressed his dismay
   that `weak' people smoked, even though the doctors of the time clearly
   informed them of the great health risk involved. He strongly condemned
   smoking where it was found to be injurious to health.
   ...

   [10]See Shu"t Minchas Asher (vol. 1, 35 and 36; at length). He (as
   well as Rav Moshe Sternbuch and several other poskim mentioned in
   this article) maintains that the main issur is the addiction and not
   necessarily each individual cigarette, yet, each individual cigarette
   brings one one step closer to addiction, and is therefore prohibited;
   similar to what Rav Moshe Feinstein wrote regarding smoking marijuana
   and taking drugs in Shu"t Igros Moshe (Y"D vol. 3, 35). The Chofetz
   Chaim (Lekutei Amarim Ch.13) writes that he screamed at smokers who
   were harming their health, "who let you get addicted?'. Rav Moshe
   himself in a later teshuva (Shu"t Igros Moshe C.M. vol. 2, 76) wrote
   that even by regular cigarettes it is assur to `get addicted'.

   [11]Shu"t Igros Moshe (Y"D vol. 2, 49).

   [12]Tehillim (Ch.116, 6). See Gemara Shabbos 129b, Yevamos 12b, 72a &
   100b, Kesuvos 39a, Sanhedrin 110b, Avodah Zara 30b, and Nida 31a & 45a.

   [13]This fact is very important. It is well known that Rav Moshe was
   against prohibiting any action that could possibly cast aspersions
   on previous generations. See article titled: `Bubby Didn't Eat Bugs!'
   [64]http://new.ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/5032.

   [14]Compare, for example, the wording of the teshuvos in Kovetz
   Teshuvos (vol. 1, 219; from 1981) and the later recent Kol Koreh (from
   Av 2004) which Rav Elyashiv signed, as well as his Ha'aros B'Maseches
   Kesuvos (7a) and Shu"t VaYishma Moshe (vol. 1, pg. 436). According
   to the JerusalemCenterfor Research - Medicine and Halacha (headed by
   Rabbi Yaakov Weiner), Rav Elyashiv later even prohibited advertising
   for cigarettes! Similarly, compare Shu"t Tzitz Eliezer vol. 1 (20,
   Ch. 3; from 1945) to vol. 15 (39; from 1983) where he explicitly
   prohibits smoking. Regarding Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul, compare Shu"t
   Ohr L'Tzion (vol. 3, Ch. 20, footnote 2) to his later Ohr L'Tzion -
   Chochma U'Mussar (pg. 221; as well as the editor's note to his previous
   teshuva). Regarding Rav Ovadia, one can see the evolution of his psak
   from Shu"t Yabea Omer (vol. 5, O.C. 39; from 1969) to Shu"t Yechaveh
   Daas (vol. 5, 39, and footnote 2; from 1983) to Halichos Olam (vol. 1,
   pg. 265 - 266, 4; from 1998).

   [15]Rav Aharon Kotler's shitta is attested to in a signed letter
   by his talmid, Rav Yechiel Perr, Rosh Yeshivas Derech Ayson of Far
   Rockaway; Shu"t Minchas Shlomo (vol. 2, 58, 6); Shu"t Ba'er Moshe
   (vol. 6, 160, 9); Shu"t Shevet HaLevi (vol. 10, 295); She'elas Rav
   (pg. 92), Shu"t Teshuvos V'Hanhagos (vol. 1, 159, and stronger in
   vol. 3, 354, and outright assur in vol. 4, 115); Shu"t Rivevos Efraim
   (vol. 3, 487, and stronger in vol. 8, 586); and Shu"t Minchas Asher
   (ibid.). Apparently, these poskim were not impressed by commonly
   floated smokers' sevaros as "most of these statistics were referring
   to non-Jews; this proves nothing about Yidden", or "statistics were
   referring to 7 day a week smokers, not 6 day a week smokers".

   [16]It is well-known that Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt"l (see, for
   example, the biographical B'Mechitzas Rabbeinu pg. 268, and Artscroll's
   biography `Reb Yaakov' pg. 318), his talmid Rav Yisroel Belsky shlit"a,
   and his son Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlit"a, prohibit(ed) smoking.
   Similar to the above mentioned Kol Koreh, many American Rabbanim
   signed an Anti-Smoking proclamation in Tammuz, 2006.

   [17]See Shu"t Ba'er Moshe (ibid.) and Shu"t Shevet HaKehasi (vol.
   1, 332).

   [18]Shu"t Igros Moshe (C.M. vol. 2, 18 & 76). He also writes that a
   father, even one already addicted to cigarettes, should not allow his
   children to start smoking! See also Shu"t Igros Moshe (O.C. vol. 5,
   34) where he concludes regarding smoking on Yom Tov that although not
   `ba'alnefesh yachmir'. Others who originally held it was muttar to
   smoke on Yom Tov include the Tzitz Eliezer, Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul,
   and Rav Ovadia Yosef. Yet, they later retracted, changing their psak,
   and prohibited it (see footnote 14). Many other contemporary poskim
   forbade smoking on Yom Tov outright, including Rav Yosef Shalom
   Elyashiv, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav Moshe Sternbuch, Rav Asher
   Weiss (in their respective Teshuvos ibid.) and the Sha'arim Metzuyanim
   B'Halacha (98, 19). They maintain that the hetterim of previous
   generations no longer apply. Now that the true health "benefits"
   of smoking are known, and many people are cutting down, trying to
   quit, or not starting in the first place, smoking can no longer be
   considered `l'briyus', and also loses its classification of `shaveh
   lachol nefesh'. A related story is told about Rav Mordechai Winkler
   zt"l, the famed Levushei Mordechai. Although noted for always smoking
   on Yom Tov, he quit cold turkey (at least for Yom Tov) after having
   a dream that he found a hetter allowing him to smoke even on Shabbos!

   [19]See Shu"t Shevet HaLevi (ibid.), Shu"t Teshuvos V'Hanhagos
   (ibid.), Shu"t Tzitz Eliezer (vol. 17, 22), Shu"t Shevet HaKehasi
   (ibid.), and Shu"t Ohr L'Tzion (vol. 2, Ch. 45, 56).

   [20]In his Lekutei Amarim (Ch.13), cited by the Tzitz Eliezer and
   Rav Ovadia Yosef in their respective teshuvos.

   ...
   Disclaimer: This is not a comprehensive guide, rather a brief summary
   to raise awareness of the issues. In any real case one should ask a
   competent Halachic authority.
   ...
   ? 1995-2014 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Weeds are flowers too
mi...@aishdas.org        once you get to know them.
http://www.aishdas.org          - Eeyore ("Winnie-the-Pooh" by AA Milne)
Fax: (270) 514-1507


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