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what do you think is more of a problem among our youth?
Facebook is worse. Smoking can only physically kill you; facebook can spiritually kill you.
Smoking.
Facebook has some redeeming qualities. Smoking has none.
Smoking is also 100% assur. Facebook is not.
Like Cedarhurst said, smoking is a physical harm and facebook is a spiritual harm, so they can not really be compared.
A person who smokes but does not use facebook, may be a frum guy, but he is putting himself in real physical danger, and may die young.
A person who uses facebook and does not smoke may live a long healthy life, but is putting himself at the satan’s door and begging for trouble.
And a person who uses facebook and also smokes is just a real winner all around
Pardon me for asking, not being a member of Facebook, but I know there are terrible sites on the web. Nevertheless, I thought Facebook is just a social site where people post info and pictures about themselves. From what I understand, they censor inappropriate pictures. Could somebody explain what is the problem?
both sound bad to me…
Can we really judge what’s worse I mean isn’t there Halachos that say NO to both????
“And a person who uses facebook and also smokes is just a real winner all around”
thanks! 🙂
Facebook isn’t inherently assur. If you use it for inappropriate things then you are using it to facilitate an aveirah.To put in perspective weddings and grocery stores aren’t assur either. BUT, if you use them to facilitate doing aveiros then maybe you shouldn’t go.You have to have seichel.
Smoking is inherently assur. You are endangering your life and those of the people around you (except according to the one poster who will claim 2nd hand smoke doesn’t exist-which isnt true, but I’ll preempt that comment) Besides the fact that I think no one has mentioned which is how expensive a habit it is. For guys either in Yeshiva or Kollel to be spending their parents, in-laws,and or wives money (@ the rate of $7-$12 a pack)is a . wrong and b.not being very moser nefesh for Torah if you ask me.
Believe it or not, there is a mishna that indirectly addresses things like facebook.
The Torah addresses EVERYTHING.
Yeah, and this mishna implies that it’s muttar.
Smoking is a halachic problem, while facebook is a hashkafa issue. The two can’t really be compared.
Shulchan Aruch implies it is assur. We don’t pasken based on the Mishna.
One time on Facebook has the potential to cause irreparable harm. And each time individually can lead to devorim assurim.
Smoking one cigarette will not do anything to you. It is doing so for an extended period that causes harm.
I dont think we can measure issurim, what is assur is assur.
Smoking is an issur d’oreisa. The smoker is knowingly putting himself in a matzav of sakana for no reason other than his own fleeting pleasure. He’s also threatening the lives of those around him.
Facebook may be used to facilitate aveiros (as can cars, phones, grocery stores, etc.) but is also used for good by kiruv organizations and by families who use it to stay in touch. It is as clearly prohibited by all Orthodox poskim as smoking
Jose:
Ipcha mistabra : madoch facebook where you could get bored or busy and not login etc
Tomar bsmoking that there’s an addiction and garaunteed withdrawal symptoms
sorry I dont get it. Although intuitvely my binah sense as a woman tells me Facebook is not a 100% “osgehalten” …I need to hear whats wrong with it precisely. Can anyone explain?
also ItcheSrulik, you need to site what mishnah deals with the topic of Facebook, if you please. Thanks
You can delete your facebook account in a second if you choose to. Can you say the same with smoking?
There is nothing 100% assur about Facebook, on the other hand, smoking is obviously 100% assur.
Guess what, if smoking physically destroys you, your neshama leaves your body. Since you did it to yourself and failed to follow “v’nishmartem meod es nasfshoseichem” it is possible you have detroyed the neshama too, especially if you caused harm to other people with your second-hand smoke.
No offense meant to the OP, but what’s the point of this question anyway?
If you feel Facebook is assur, then don’t use it. And if you feel smoking is assur, then don’t smoke.
The Wolf
The question is:
What is worse: putting oneself in physical danger, or putting oneself into spiritual danger?
If both are bad, who cares what is worse? Both shouldn’t be used.
However, I would say without a doubt that a spritual harm is a whole lot worse than physical harm.
One difference between them is: facebook looks innocent and is potentially harmful. Smoking everyone knows is harmful.
I see all these mentions of the issur for smoking. Can anyone refer a written psak or teshuva to that effect? I would like to read what is written there.
Blueprints,
I think you messed up your attempt to use yeshivish shprach, what you wrote does ot make any sense if you know what the words actually mean.
Aries:
One can stop smoking cold turkey, I have seen it done. In addition, your comment does not deal with the issur. And just smoking one cigarette does not put some one in danger, it is smoking regularly that is a problem. However, the damage from going on face book, be it loshon hora, rechilus , or one of 3 aveiros ( yehoreg vaal yavor ones)can all happen from just one time on face book.
I cannot say which is a bigger issur and why would it make a difference if both are in fact ossur, however it is plain as the pimple on one’s face where the likelihood of lasting damage can occur from just one use.
As a matter of clarification, venishmartem meod lenofshoseichem is an asay. Vlo sosuru achrei levavichem is a lo sasay.
flowers- Your mistake is -if the physical harm is Ossur, then you are also doing spiritual harm to yourself!
Jose-
I see all these mentions of the issur for smoking. Can anyone refer a written psak or teshuva to that effect? I would like to read what is written there.R’ Moshe Zt”l whose teshuva all you people quote that it is mutter to smoke says clearly it’s ossur to start.
As a matter of clarification, venishmartem meod lenofshoseichem is an asay. Vlo sosuru achrei levavichem is a lo sasayWhen I learnt in Yeshiva, I was always exposed to second-hand smoke. I don’t know of one smoker who will not smoke in the presence of others. R’ Moshe only Matters smoking for oneself, he doesn’t Matter second-hand smoke. For a person to expose others to second-hand smoke, as far as I’m concerened this is Rehzicha, a lot worse than “Vlo sosuru …”!
ok whoever believes that facebook puts you in spiritual danger …I DISAGREE! It all depends on how you use it! Facebookk is not inheritantly evil. Neither is a butcher’s knife.
On the other hand no matter how you smoke cigarettes, they pose a serious health threat.
Jose, are you implying that an asai and lo taaseh are not equally important?
frumladygit: It was meant tongue in cheek. I was referring to a mishna in shvi’is that says that a tool that may be used for both permitted and forbidden activities is permitted. I can quote the original if you like, though for the life of me I can’t think of a single si’if in shulchan aruch that implies facebook is assur unless Cedarhurst is counting all the forbidden things you can do with it.
The OP is, of course, assuming that Facebook is assur. I make no such assumption.
Put it this way…
There are gedolim that smoke.
I think I can safely say no Gadol has a facebook account!
Yasher Koach to all those Tzaddikim who say that Facebook is more ossur. It is obviously Yehareg V’Al Y’aavor to surf Facebook. Countless of our impressionable young boys and girls are mingling there without their parents knowledge, committing countless averos.
They are being indoctrinated with such Avoda Zoras like Feminism and Torah U’Mada. This alone is enough reason to destroy the computers in every home and Yeshiva.
Yom Kippur cannot even be Mechaper such Shmutz.
Daven that these Nishamos somehow find their way back.
Why is smoking not looked at as a spiritual danger? Once it became assur to smoke it became spiritually dangerous as well.
And this is logical. If someone knows it is assur to smoke but does so anyway, then this probably reflects a deeper problem with his connection to halacha.
I don’t know so much about facebook but as far as I understand it doesn’t present a physical danger as well as a spiritual one as does smoking.
I would say bari v’shema bari adif. Or garu’ah in this case.
oooh! jose:
that’s harsh!
please correct me.
They’re both addictive. I’ve never really done either one, so I don’t know which is more addictive.
Pashuteh Yid, I don’t see where anyone has answered your question about what’s so bad about Facebook. Besides the obvious bitul zman, teens in particular connect with all kinds of people who are not the best influences. They “friend” people they don’t know and are exposed to all kinds of shmutz. Because it seems to be somewhat private, it lessens inhibitions, in a similar way to how the Internet made pornography more accessible. Yes, it can be used to help families keep in touch, but that’s not how teens use it. I think if you ask anyone who works with at-risk teens about Facebook, they’ll have a very negative opinion.
YehudaYona, thanks for finally answering the question. However, I thought they filter out shmutz, at least the pictures. I suppose you mean they are texting each other (and opposite genders) and the parent doesn’t know who or what. For this reason, I do not allow my kids to have cell phones until they graduate HS and go to Israel where they are required by the sems for safety reasons.
However, the comments here make it seem like there is some inherent issur in the site itself. That is what I cannot figure out, as most people here are adults, and if they have cell phones, how could Facebook be any worse? A far as sites go, there are probably tons of sites which are hundreds of times worse.
If not for Facebook,(and the photos members may add to their “wall”), one of my teens would be in a much better place spiritually right now.
A friend of hers told me she is so popular,she is recognized walking down the street….not a good thing at all.
And every “up” she aspires to is quickly overpowered by the
all-too-dangerous pull of that type of attention.
I have more than one teen,and I see the difference.
oh eclipse I am sorry. May you only see truly good results of her nisyonas in the end. She will overcome them if you talk quietly heart to heart, say late at night, and through the love in your heart for her she will get the message.
flg–amein
Mint, I’m really curious: are you here on your own to spread the gospel, or do you have a mashgiach or rav who advised you to go on the internet to stop the shmutz?
Smoking and FB both scare me, but ultimately, like internet, it might be hard to avoid FB. Meanwhile, I stay away from both.
mikehall, from what I know of eclipse I don’t know how relevant your post is.
Sometimes that’s what’s needed. Sometimes there’s more to the story.
Mint:
Yom Kippur cannot even be Mechaper such Shmutz.
You forgot to add “IMO”, because that’s what it is-your opinion. I’m glad we don’t pasken by anonymous posters in the CR.
mikehall12382
I suggest you look at someone/something else to blame for this other than facebbok. Sometimes a look at how you are doing things in the home is needed…
I am honestly shocked that the mods would let this comment through. What a rude thing to say to someone! What do you know about Eclipse’s home? Who are you to judge?
Your saying blame the actual person not the tool or media??
It works both ways people have to know themselves well enough and at a certain point in our lives we only have ourselves to blame…
technically if you but yourself into a situation –IT’S YOU not the media/facebook(yes. it’s accessible) that got you there…..Bottom Line SO DON’T GO THERE!
Against my better judgement, I’m going to weigh in here:
mikehall12382, I don’t care how correct you are (which IMHO you are at least somewhat correct about the Facebook point). The pain of a mother who has a child in that sort of situation I hope you don’t understand.
Your comment about her home is out of order. There are a myriad of reasons why a child may not want to stay on, and IMHO many do not start from the home (and are extremely unpredictable).
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