This is a great attitude. I'm glad people are speaking out against the desecration of our Tzelem Elokim called smoking.

before the smoking ban, prohibit alcoholic beverages

I am being cynical.

What is Pure Always Is Pure. Ignorance is far more damaging than smoking.

Is so much obvious that is forbidden to smoke from the Torah as the Sefardic Poskims decree few years ago, finally also the ashenazim started this war in the haredi arena against the smoke!

because there are older Rabbis who got hooked before the proof of the danger came to light...so nobody wants to say it's "asur"...but too many of the next generation are getting hooked in the meantime!!! Good campaign -- kol hakavod!

people moved on since then.

Finally something positive from the charedim.. usually its just negative stuff... like they dont work..dont go to the army, mooch of the state and general negatives about their contribution to the country. Bu now they are trying to stop smoking.. wow!!!

sticks every year so that a pack of cigarettes cost more than a nice meal. Offer free medical stop smoking patches and other prescriptions funded by tobacco taxes. Imagine if someone came to the Knesset and wanted permission to sell a product that contains cancer producing chemicals, causes heart disease and makes the user addicted to the product. They would throw that stupid pig out immediately, so......................

you don't live here and yet you think it's OK to voice an opinion such as this? you should concern yourself with problems closer to home and let us israelis deal with our own problems - dipstick!

cigarettes are equally harmful the rest of the year, too. so why don't the rabbis speak out against smoking in general and for all age groups? it has always seemed strange that so many observant men smoke heavily, in spite of the physical harm to themselves and the difficulty of satisfying their addiction on shabbat and holidays.

just all they have to do is keep away from any electrical appliences, the kitchen the garag, and from children. :P

According to religious tradition it is permitted to get sufficiently drunk on Purim as being unable to distinguish between Mordechi and Haymen! So if it is OK to get drunk why not also permit youngsters to smoke? From a non-religious but social and medical viewpoint both drinking and smoking are undesirable in normal (and later)life, and therefore should not be encouraged in youth, but the situation is not as simple as completely banning these things. Before a young person decides not to drink or smoke he/she surely deserves the chance to see what each of them does to him/her. This is partly what Purim is about, going "crazy" for one day. The Jewish statistic about Jewish drunks used to be that it never happens that you find one. This was when we came from Wester Jewish homes. The reason surely comes from the fimilarity and education that Jewish children used to receive when they were allowed to sample the Kiddish wine, and possibly smell the smoke from a grandfatherly cigar! Today in Israel both drinking to excess and smoking to lung cancer proportions are problem, but the solution to them should not be in banning the experimental side (of Purim) but by improving the education aspects of a Festival where these excesses are permitted for one day.

western world. Lung cancer is a miserable death...simply horrific. Ban this poison...I quite after 30 years and I still cant figure out what I saw in it. When I see young yeshiva boys smoking I simply cringe..I cant understand why the Rabbis dont actively discourage the practice.

You can rapidly become addict to cigarettes , no need for many . With alcohol it's different . You have to drink , drink and drink before becoming addict . Also , youngsters think that they are "adults" when having a cigarette in their mouth . They will need to be TRULY adult to stop smoking .