and if you’re gonna go by that mitzvah you gotta drop every unhealthy thing you ever ingest in your life. including soda and fried food. how many people are willing to do that? not many.
You have a good argument there moish. If you look at trends, however, public awareness with regard to the ill effects of smoking have been very well published in the previous years. Presently, obesity is the hot topic being tackled and you’l be seeing it publicized more and more. Just think about the proposed soda tax, laws requiring fast food restaurants to list the nutritional values (or lack thereof), etc.
and realistically speaking, how many people keep all the mitzvos anyway? i know i don’t. everyone has a few that are extra hard. (or more than just a few)
True, but you stil have to make an effort, can’t completely ignore it 🙂
I’ve had this discussion many times over, minus the religious aspect, with non-Jewish kids. It’s hard for kids to think long-term and really give it a serious thought when we’re talking about the dangers 20-30 years down the line.