“you will never be able to stop something that’s legal. especially as I’ve stated before there are many things worse than smoking! because eating your steak doesn’t smell or make your teeth yellow doesn’t make it healthier, do you want the community to put pressure on ppl eating steaks? the alcohol consumption in shuls (for some) is extremely dangerous and stupid, should we ban alcohol in shul?? not helping your wife at home in the long run is dangerous, stupid, and will have huge consequences, should we make a takkana about it? (woman can’t answer that one lol) enough with the takkanas and pressure for things that are not a lav (and smoking is not a lav, say what you want rav moshe says clearly it’s not) and don’t really affect other ppl!!!
(hmmmm i wonder, with all these posts and editing done by the moderators, how do they go through the day without smoking and drinking????) “
Where to start, where to start…
Point by point – Many things that used to be legal (driving without a seatbelt, riding a bike w/o a helmet,talking on the cellphone while driving, carrying babies in a car without a carseat, buying lots of Claritin D on the same day) were all legal at one time. When it was determined that for the greater good, these things were a hazard, they were made illegal. The fact that there are worse things than smoking (and you are right about that), in no way mitigates the dangers of smoking. It’s not a case of, this is worse than that, so it’s not so bad, so let’s allow it.
Eating a steak and clogging my OWN arteries, is not the same thing as my smoking a cigarette and poisoning the air that you also have to breathe along with my own lungs.
MANY shuls have banned Kiddush Clubs and the serving of alcohol at Shul functions, for the very reasons you cited.
Here is one woman’s answer to your remark about husband’s not helping around the house. They are asking for Sholom Bayis problems, if they truly do not see the relevance of being a true partner in their home. most women nowadays, are forced to work outside the home (even if by choice, they are still contributing to the household income), and a husband who would sit by idly watching his wife do all the shleppy work, is a selfish and self-centered fool. He sets a poor example for his sons, and runs the risk of losing his wife’s respect. A real man respects the work his wife does and shares the burden of the responsibilities with her, especially if he is learning fulltime and SHE is earning, and having babies, and raising kids, and dealing with his family, and trying to do it all (here’s a secret: we CAN’T!!!)
As to the rabbonim who said it was not assur to smoke – given what we know today, I doubt very strongly they would issue the same p’sak, were they still alive. Especially given what we know now about second-hand smoke, I am thinking they would never allow a cigarette in the beis medrash. Those rabbonim who do not agree, might possibly not be as yet in possession of all the facts about nicotine addiction, cancer of the lung, lip, tongue, and gums, as well as stomach and bladder cancer, which have also been found to correlate with heavy smoking. They might not yet be acquainted with the knowledge that smoking seriously elevates one’s blood pressure and heart rate, to unacceptable levels, and will eventually cause stroke and/or heart attack, PARTICULARLY in overweight or sedentary people, who are already at risk because of those two reasons. They also apparently have not yet understood that children are at special risk for developing asthma when one or both parents smoke. The kids never picked up a cigarette, but they have pulmonary problems because their family member smoked. No one wants to say I told you so to someone dying of those conditions. The only remedy is to stop smoking BEFORE it becomes a health emergency for the smoker and for his friends and family.