prohibited tallow; whether it may be indulged in on holidays or on fast days; and whether it can be used in the synagogue at all. But as to the second question raised by the inquirer, whether it should be prohibited because of the increasing medical opinion that it is dangerous to health, the fact is that the healthfulness or harmfulness of the use of tobacco was not especially discussed in the past. The opposition of Church and State to its use was based upon a general conservatism and a superstition that it was “burning incense to the devil.” But, understandably, the users of tobacco in the early days praised it as beneficial. In fact it was called herba panacea, an all-healing herb; thus the only references to its effect on the body seemed to be, rather, in favor of its use. We mentioned above that smoker’s would tell Chaim Benvenisti that tobacco calmed their nerves; moreover, Abraham Sofer, in his responsum, speaks of the fact that smokers would tell him that the smoking was good for their health, especially for their digestion after a heavy meal. But the idea that tobacco could be harmful to health is a modern one, and if it is proved to be fact, then certainly the Jewish traditional law would have a clear attitude toward its use.
It is distinctly a duty incumbent upon every person to protect his health. The Mishnah, in Baba Kamma 8:6(and the Tal mud in 91b), states that a person may not injure himself. The law continues that if one does what he is forbidden, he is not punished for it. The statement means that if a man injures someone else, the courts punish him, but the courts will not punish a man who injures himself, even though it is a sin. So, too, the law is that a man may not even live in a city that has no physician(San. 17b). The Talmud is full of laws which speak of what to do to prevent sickness and protect health. Maimonides , the great legalist and physician, said(Yad, Hil. Rotzeah 11:5):“Our sages have prohibited any thing because they involve bodily danger, and everyone who transgresses against and says,‘I am only harming myself and it is nobody else’s affair,” or if he says,‘1 do not pay attention to such things,” such a person deserves to be flogged.” This statement of Maimonides is repeated at the very end of the Shulhan Arukh, which adds, after Maimonides ’ statement, that such a person deserves to be flogged:“He who is careful about such matters will receive the blessing of happiness.” Isaac Rifkes, in his commentary Be’er Hagolah, explains this statement as follows:“The Torah warns us to be careful of our health because