Once, while feeling ill, Rabbi Benzion Halberstam, a previous Bobover Rebbe, consulted a doctor in Vienna. As he sat in the waiting room he smoked a Havana cigar. His followers regularly provided them for him, knowing that the Rebbe enjoyed them. When the doctor entered the room and saw the Rebbe smoking, he told him, "Herr Rabbiner, smoking is not healthy for you!"
The Rebbe put his cigar into a nearby ashtray and followed the professor inside. When the examination was finished, he put on his coat and was about to leave. The doctor hurried after him, calling, " Herr Rabbiner! Your cigar!"
The Rebbe turned to him and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Your cigar -- you have forgotten to take it."
"Not really," the Rebbe replied. "I don't smoke."
The professor was dumbfounded. The Rebbe explained that the moment the doctor told him that smoking was unhealthy -- a fact which he had not known -- he put the cigar down and would never touch one again. He was surprised at the doctor's incredulity.
"How is it possible to smoke after hearing it is not healthy?" he asked.
For his part, the doctor was amazed that a person who had smoked for so long could quit so abruptly, without any difficulty. The Rebbe did not understand the doctor's surprise.
"The Torah," he explained, "commands us, 'Venishmartem meod lenafshotechem' ['You shall take care exceedingly of your lives' -- Deut. 4:15). I must obey this command to guard my health, just as I must obey any other command in the Torah."
[Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from "Gut Woch " (Mesorah) by Avrohom Barash]
http://www.ascent.org.il/Stories/Stories/5770/659-44.html
The excerpts from the articles below point to people who were not as wise as the Rebbe.
Recent studies have shown that, despite the surgeon general’s warnings, and despite billions of dollars in ad campaigns, young teens and adults are lighting up in large numbers, especially in the Orthodox Jewish community.
As a result of a recent Cancer Awareness Project initiated by volunteers of RCCS, calls have been coming in to the RCCS office begging for help in getting children and spouses to quit… before it is too late.
Read full story: http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=28091
A bridegroom in Turkey has accidentally killed three relatives while firing an AK-47 in celebration at his own wedding, Turkish media reported.
The groom lost control of the weapon as he tried to fire in traditional celebration in the air at the ceremony in the village of Akcagoze in south-eastern Gaziantep province.
The guests were sprayed with bullets and the groom's father and two aunts were killed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10908830
The annual World Sauna Championships in Finland have ended in tragedy with the death of one of the finalists.
Russian Vladimir Ladyzhensky and his Finnish rival, Timo Kaukonen, collapsed after suffering severe burns. Mr Ladyzhensky later died in hospital.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10904691
In a JPost article, Frimet Roth, whose daughter was killed in the Sbarro pizza store bombing exactly nine years ago, provides cold statistics for those clamoring for the release of terrorists in exchange for Gilad SHalit.
The statistics are chilling. According to government numbers, some 45 percent of released terrorists return to terrorism, while the rate of recidivism among Hamas members is 63%.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=184157
Smoking? I'll play Russian Roulette with my life.
Firing into a wedding party? So what if it sometimes results in deaths?
Competing in a sauna at 110° Celsius. Are you nuts?
Releasing terrorists? I'll take my chances.
Let's heed the words of Devarim 4:15 when making decisions which can result in life threatening situations.
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