Person1: The Torah says you shouldn’t do things that are harmful, but exactly what falls in that category is not clear. We have Gedolim to figure out the exact parameters of what is included in that issur.
Many things are harmful but not assur. Living is dangerous – do you know that every second of life brings you closer to death? Not getting enough sleep, having bad eating habits, etc are all harmful but not assur. Driving and crossing streets are two of the most dangerous things to do, but no one says it’s assur. The chances of getting killed IMMEDIATELY each time you cross the street or drive are probably greater than the chances of getting killed by a cigarette while smoking one.
Using cellphones is dangerous. Living in places where there is more pollution than others is dangerous.
The point is that we do dangerous things all the time, but they are not necessarily halachically assur. We have to continually make decisions in our lives and weigh things out. Why do we drive if it’s dangerous? Because it is important to be able to get places and that is more important than the dangers involved. You might die sooner, but if you don’t drive, you may not be able to have a meaningful and productive life and that is more important. That is the reason why people do all sorts of unhealthy things.
I once saw a boy who looked like a kid-at-risk type smoking at the bus stop. A lady started giving him mussar and telling him how dangerous it is. He responded, “Lady, I’m not smoking because I think it’s healthy.”
Maybe this boy was so depressed that he was thinking of committing suicide and he was smoking as a way of dealing with his depression instead. Or maybe it was an alternative to drug use.
A baalas teshuva I know told me that she started smoking when she was in the Israeli Army because she had such a stressful job and it was the only way she was able to deal with the stress (her job was calling people up for reserve duty – she had her life threatened on occasion, and someone even held a knife up to her throat once!). Obviously, from a Torah perspective, she shouldn’t have been in the army in the first place, but she didn’t know that at the time, and she thought it was something she had to do even if it meant that she would end up smoking.
Let me make it clear. I am not advocating smoking!! I think it is a terrible thing to do!!! But- the fact that it is dangerous does not NECESSARILY render it a clear-cut Issur D’oraissa. People continually have to make choices in life. We have a Torah that lays out for us those things that are clear-cut Issurim. Beyond that, we have to make choices and prioritize. It is not fair for one person to put down another person because he seems to be making different choices than us. Maybe that person is going through a really difficult time and smoking is the only thing that will get him through it. He is putting himself at risk of eventually developing lung cancer, but meanwhile he will have 10,20, 50 years of productivity that he may not have had otherwise.
And honestly, I am not sure statistically that picking up a cigarette and smoking on occasion significantly raises one’s chances of lung cancer. I haven’t done a survey, but all the bochurim that I know who smoked only did so for a short period of time and stopped before they got married. Yes, there is a risk that someone will get addicted, but I’m not sure how significant a risk it is, and as I said, people have to weigh things out and make decisions. Smoking a cigarette is not like jumping off a bridge which is how some people are making it sound!