Home › Forums › Yom Tov › Purim › Good Bachurim Can Smoke?! What’s the Purim Heter? › Reply To: Good Bachurim Can Smoke?! What’s the Purim Heter?
There was a time when the Gedolei Hador of Europe wanted to pasken that POTATOES were kitniyos on Pesach, because flour can be made from the potato starch and it resembles regular flour. However, when they realized what a full-scale rebellion they would have on their hands, because potatoes are such a staple food item, they retracted their views. Sometimes chachomim do re-think their positions and have charatah on their p’sak halacha (I have experienced that myself with a rov who first assered and then mattired something that I asked him about). R’ Moshe ZT”L may have been aware of SOME of the dangers in smoking, but it is only in recent years that the medical community has recognized the life-threatening danger of SECOND-hand smoke to innocent victims who never lit up even once in their lives. Even if someone feels you have a right to risk your own life (and that is a big IF), they certainly would not espouse the belief that it is ok to harm another person. Let’s move on already.