I recognize that the title may come across as provocative, but it is a topic that weighs heavily on my heart – particularly during the Yomim Tovim.
Each Sukkos, our shuls receive an influx of Yeshiva bochurim returning home. While it is beautiful to see how many of them have grown into Yarei Shamayim and Baali Middos, there’s a distressing reality that cannot be ignored. A significant number of these young men return home openly smoking – many of them gathered around the entrances of our shuls, creating discomfort and harm for others. Even when asked respectfully to move, some refuse.
I always believed that Yeshivas were sacred institutions, devoted to teaching a proper way of life and the Derech Hatorah. A place where students are taught to emulate Hashem – just as He is compassionate, so too we must be. Yet, smoking is not only a personal vice – it causes direct harm to others, especially those with asthma or other respiratory conditions. The Torah forbids causing pain or damage to others (see Rabbeinu Yonah on Avos 1:1), and yet these Yeshivas seem to impart the exact opposite into their students.
The Gemara goes into great depth how one must guard their life, based on the Pasuk ונשמרתם מאוד לנפשותיכם. Yet these halachos are completely ignored and trampled, when dealing with an action that is a leading cause of premature death – responsible for numerous diseases including heart failure, over sixteen cancers, aortic aneurysm, COPD, emphysema, and stroke. Even those who don’t die early often live lives filled with suffering. It appears as if the Yeshivas feel that they can pick and choose which mitzvos are convenient for them.
I remember other lofty ideals that used to be taught – to be Koveish es Yitzro and to not follow our destructive desires and lusts. And here, Yeshivas are turning a blind eye to those who add damaging addictions and desires that we aren’t even born with (“in order to add to his thirsty passions with additional non-natural sins” – see Ramban Nitzavim). Yet again, it seems that this is okay as long one picked up the addiction in the Yeshiva.
I’ve spoken to several Yeshiva students about this. Many say they plan to quit when they’re older. While this would generally be a the smart move (as the heart will eventually heal as well as half of the lung damage) it is sadly comical to hear this when we see so many Kollel men and other Yeshiva baali batim still smoking. Yet I would ask them, “Let us assume that you do quit, and you live a full and healthy life. What about your “friends” who were influenced by you to smoke, either directly or indirectly. Those who may not quit, who may die young, who may miss their children’s simchas, their daughters’ weddings, or leave behind grieving families? Can anyone say that such behavior brings nachas to Hashem?”
It appears, disturbingly, that some Yeshivas are choosing to overlook these dangers. Can we really teach ואהבת לרעך כמוך while turning a blind eye to self-inflicted and socially harmful addictions that begin in the very halls of Torah?
And to the hanhala of Yeshivas who remain silent or offer only minimal warnings: Are you aware of the pain and long-term consequences caused by this silence? Do you realize that because of your inaction many of your students will lose years of their life and live lives of suffering? Do you realize that some of the more innocent of your students will end up picking up this destructive habit because of you allowing the smokers to continue smoking without repercussion.
Chazal teach us: “כל המרחם על האכזרים סופו להתאכזר על הרחמנים” – those who show misplaced compassion to the cruel, will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate. By tolerating or minimizing smoking, Yeshivas have become apathetic to the future suffering of those who are in your charge to nurture, teach, and care.
When I see these bochurim smoking outside shuls, oblivious to those who suffer from the smoke, I can’t help but wonder: Are yeshivos really a place that our sons can learn Torah? Or are they just there for an academic Judaism, devoid of any real Torah growth? As I watch them smoking I am filled with the thoughts, “Woe to the one who studied Torah, woe to his father who taught him Torah, woe to his teacher who taught him Torah. So-and-so who studied Torah, see how destructive are his deeds, and how ugly are his ways.”
I personally have suffered greatly due to the selfishness of smokers. As a Yeshiva student, I often woke up gasping for breath because students were smoking behind the dormitories. It reached a point where I had to leave the Yeshiva. My brother, an asthmatic, attended a prestigious Yeshiva where his condition was ignored. He suffered in silence because he didn’t want to stand out. This is not how a Torah institution should function.
I’m not writing this letter to vent or to complain. I write it with sincere hope – hope that as we klap al cheit and say “צערנו”, someone might stop and reflect. Maybe he will wake up and decide to take a path that no longer causes pain to others. Maybe this letter can help save even one life. Maybe as a Yeshiva student during Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur becomes filled with love for Hashem, they will decide to take a path that will cause nachas to Hashem, a path of mercy and compassion, a path where one guards their life and cares about the lives of others, a path of righteousness and a path of Kiddush Hashem.
Perhaps, a Rebbi or Rosh Yeshiva will understand about the huge chillul Hashem it is when Yeshiva students return home and instead of showing what a Yeshiva can develop they show the negative influences of Yeshivahs. Maybe their eyes will be opened to talk out against this illness and sin. Maybe they will understand that when they remain silent, other students will be influenced and they will end up with decades of suffering.
Let this be a call to awaken our sensitivity and responsibility. Let us work to create an environment where smoking is not normalized, where self-harm and harm to others is not tolerated, and where the Torah world leads with example and conviction.
Imagine a Torah world where smoking is seen as completely unacceptable – a world in which thousands of lives are saved and countless years of suffering are avoided. This vision is within reach. The power to change lies in our hands.
Please, take these words to heart.
Sincerely,
S.K.
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36 Responses
I couldn’t agree with you more.
I see them smoking younger and younger.
ok so don’t send your kids to yeshiva that’s totally fine with us
The older generation did not necessarily go.
I don’t think it’s necessary for all types. Some boys are ready to meet the challenges of life in America perhaps without being in EY for that long a period. And perhaps could benefit from the time at home to prepare for dating.
I think you make a valid point. Our young people are smoking outside our SHULS! How beautiful it is that even our youth with questionable habits are found in our shuls and not nightclubs and the sort.
Any Rosh HaYeshivah who permits his students to smoke cigarettes DOES NOT REPRESENT the true Derech HaTorah, regardless of how many times he learned through Shas, regardless of how many times he learned through Shulchan Aruch, regardless of how long his beard is, and regardless of how chumrahs he practices.
Rabbi Yair Hoffman said:
“Recently, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein (shlita) paskened that were his father alive today he would clearly state that it is completely and entirely forbidden from a halachic perspective.
Rabbi Elyashiv ZTL ruled that there is now an addition prohibition of havara to smoke on Yom Tov because it is no longer halachically considered ochel nefesh, universal consumption.
The Gedolim of Eretz Yisroel forbade the practice; it is not just Rabbi Dovid Feinstein either.”
SOURCE: Stopping the Madness by Rabbi Yair Hoffman,
2014 February 12, Five Towns Jewish Times
The vast majority of yeshiva bochrim do not smoke. Some do, but the numbers get less and less each year. Look for the good and you’ll see it… look for the bad and you’ll see that too.
A very well written lecture indeed (though I only got through like half of it). I just wonder as smart as it seems you are medically and halachikally as you seem to have all the the quotes well versed have you considered that maybe your missing something? Maybe just maybe before you pass judgement on multitudes of holy institutions led by great people maybe there’s a point you’re missing. I wonder if you considered that or are you so convinced of your position that your only endeavor here is to attempt to change everyone else. It’s aseres yemei teshuva the time of year to first and foremost look in the mirror
Is there any evidence that rates of smoking among yeshiva bochurim are significantly higher than those of the same age brackets outside of the yeshiva velt??
Which yeshiva are you talking about? Never in my life has I seen anyone outside Mir or torah vodaas smoking. Chaim Berlin had some of that stigma a long time ago but those days are long gone. Maybe this is a Lakewood issue? I’m not seeing it here
Glad that you wrote this.
No matter how severe you paint the smokers, it’s not severe enough.
My grandfather is in the hospital now suffering terribly now from smoke related lung infections.
R”L.
Anyone who pokes fun of the author or makes light of this machla is a choiteh umachti et harabim.
The title is misleading. It implies that there is a yes/no choice between sending one’s child to yeshiva where there is smoking versus not sending the child to yeshiva where there is obviously not smoking.
The third choice, and obviously the right one, is to send one’s child to only a yeshiva that forbids and does not tolerate smoking, so that the child does learn in yeshiva but does not learn that abominable forbidden habit from some other children there.
MAILBAG: Is Sending Our Sons To Yeshiva Worth It When Considering The Bad Parts?
What’s the alternative? Keep our sons home?
If they smoke bein hazemanim does it mean they smoke in Yeshiva?
Oy. Do we have to start off the year by griping and pointing fingers? But if we’re on that level, allow me to add my 25 cents: please read to the end!
“Hot Chanie” sheitels
Tight clothing
6” heels
Cell phones
Luxury Shabbos and Yom Tov programs
Drunken Purim and Simchat Torah
Fatherless boys alone in shul
Singles of all ages
Almonahs and divorcees trying to feed, clothe and educate kids on a dime
Old people abandoned by friends, neighbors and even their children
Abject poverty
Loneliness on Shabbos and Yom Tov
Homelessness
Illness
Unemployment
Infertility
Special needs children…..
I could go on. In the light of everything that our community (like every other) suffers, I can’t get too worked up about bochurim stupidly indulging in a filthy and unhealthy habit. Maybe we all should take on, and be responsible for, alleviating one tragic situation and try to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Gmar Chatima Tova.
Maybe I just missed it, but I don’t think there’s anything about parents in this letter. Most of what is written has less to do with yeshiva and more to do with the home in which said child grows up.
While you make good points – ones that I agree with – you lost me utterly at your title. Of course there are problems in Klal Yisrael – and of course, they should be dealt with. The mere suggestion of “closing down all Yeshivos” is one that resonates with some of the worst Reshaim and Malchus shel Risha throughout our history. You want to grab attention and be provacative? Make your point under a headline that does not scream of Kefira.
Point #1 – Have you seen the dessert tables at the recent simchas you’ve been to? Did you notice the table with soft drinks? What a chillul Hashem! V’nishmartem!
Sugar kills! Excessive sugar intake can contribute to early death! Here’s how:
1. Heart Disease
High sugar consumption is linked to higher risk of heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke—all of which are leading causes of premature death globally.
2. Type 2 Diabetes
Long-term high sugar intake can cause insulin resistance and eventually diabetes, which increases the risk of heart disease, kidney failure, infections, and amputations—all life-shortening conditions.
3. Obesity
Excess sugar contributes to unhealthy weight gain, which is associated with many life-threatening conditions (e.g., cancer, hypertension, liver disease).
4. Liver Disease
Fructose-heavy sugars (like high-fructose corn syrup) can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can progress to liver failure.
5. Cancer
High sugar diets may increase the risk of some cancers, and cancer is a major cause of premature mortality.
6. Inflammation and Immune Dysfunction
Chronic inflammation from sugar consumption contributes to a wide range of degenerative diseases that can shorten lifespan.
Point #2 – You’re hired! …to any Yeshiva you like. Get the kids to stop smoking. Hatzlacha!
Point #3 – Ok, so where are you sending your kids? No problems there?
Point #4 – The title you chose is a bigger chilul Hashem. What if some temimusdik parent decides not to send to Yeshiva because of this letter. Are you ready to take achrayus for that kid’s ruchniyus!?
Smoking is not healthy, but let’s not blow things out of proportion.
Umm, what about the fact that many yeshivas not only turn a blind eye to bochurim drinking, but that the rebbeim drink with the bochurim. I am moser nefesh to send my boys to learn, not to learn how to tolerate and enjoy alcohol. B”H my wife raised them well, so they control themselves, but I’ve seen their friends a little too attached to alcohol in their time in yeshiva.
The post is on target, and very important. Thanks for it! However, the title is somewhat misleading, as it implies that all yeshivas are okay with smoking (chas veshalom!), which is definitely not correct, and should be accordingly adjusted. Re institutions that accept, tolerate it, they should be pressured to mend their ways and bring their enrollees into line. Hatzlocho!
Should people smoke ,I think everyone will agree they shouldn’t. If your compliant is that they shouldn’t smoke in front of the shul then you should speak to the administration and have signs banning smoking in front of the shul. It does work. The only problem is they will go elsewhere to learn and pray and may take others with them.
Writing a letter to the editor wouldn’t solve this problem
With such a title, I was expecting a lot more than some whining about kids smoking.
How about the fact that a significant amount of bochurim are coming back from years in Yeshiva with little more than an indifference to Torah and Yiras Shomayim, with only a small percentage of bochurim having connected deeply with Torah and its Kedushah?
This is what concerns me as a parent. And it should concern every parent who values a Yeshiva education.
I have a theory about why this is. But that’s for a different rant.
If you don’t send them to yeshiva they will standing by the door to shul… If you are lucky… smoking marijuana.
Regardless of how important the issue may be, the choice of title is disgusting.
Seriously, you are asking “Is Sending Our Sons To Yeshiva Worth It ?”
On a site called “The Yeshiva World”??????
Chazal say that “Mai Ahani Lon Rabbonon”, which is pretty similar to what the title implies; “why do we need yeshivos?”, is to place yourself outside of the community of Shomrei Torah.
Is this Yaffed, or are you willing to make it look like Yeshivos are totally bad, just because you want people to look at your article?
Would you prefer the values taught in the street?
Would you prefer the values taught at Yale?
Let’s keep some perspective:
Smoking is very bad, but a greater percentage than those who smoke would being doing drugs and worse in any other school system.
Make your point without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
There might bee a valid point in your letter.
However, I cannot claim to get through to my teenage boys with everything, and say that whatever I teach them, they accept and listen too. What I can say is, that my boys definitely picked up a lot of great things in yeshiva, and maybe they listen even more to the staff in yeshiva than to me…
I wouldn’t complain on something that I cannot manage to do a better job with. (And I have plenty to say about the yeshiva system) If someone feels they can do a better then they are welcome to open an ideal yeshiva, or homeschool their son… Since I’m not offering a better alternative, I chose to stay quiet and respect the ones that are out there and doing the work for me…
There’s a very important point that makes the writer is missing that makes him come across as very naive. We are talking about TEENAGE BOYS! We have all been teenagers at one point. Don’t tell me that there is even one person here that never did anything stupid as a teenager…
To cancel out the whole yeshiva system because some boys are being stupid, and to say that (the potential of) not smoking outweighs everything that could be gained from the yeshiva system is so incredibly wrong. Where do you plan on sending your son? To YU with all the yetzer haras that are there!?
Come on, be honest. You have a vendetta and this is your excuse to air it. If you had truly meant this to be a plea to get bochurim to stop smoking, this whole article and it’s (very provocative) title could’ve been worded very differently.
It’s very sad that you had a bad experience but this has nothing to do with the Yeshivos. The non-yeshiva crowd is doing the recreational stuff these days…
Sorry but I have to disagree
Chimichanga starts at home, it’s not the yeshiva’s job to police students on smoking or not
The parents should have taught the kids from an early age that smoking is extremely dangerous (no different than running in the street)
Although I don’t advocate for smoking as it is pretty much accepted as unhealthy, I must say that this letter is way off kilter. Replete with numbers which are both imprecise and exaggerated, the letter paints bochurim and their rebbeim as the greatest desecrators of G-d’s name who have ever walked the face of this planet.
The fact is that bochurim are the most helpful and considerate people I ever encounter – hands down. They are involved in chessed during bein hasedorim and are the most delightful guests I am zocheh to host on Shabbos.
We all have a way to go in middos perfection. Smoking in a place in which it bothers others is not what we are striving for. At the same time, there are a slew of bothersome behaviors which can be attributed to particular segments which are easily excused and don’t nullify all of the positive. Clearly, someone has an ax to grind.
Yeshiva bochurim who smoke are not mass murderers. Generally, smoking is at a historical low in most yeshivas. There are not thousands of former yeshiva bochurim dying all over the place and most quit before they date or marry.
If you hate the people who are holding up the world because of some compunction which you just can’t get past, perhaps you need to speak with someone who can help you. Hashem may just find their smoking outside the shul more pleasant than your davening inside the shul!
Name NOT withheld,
Dovid Roness
You’re making a simple error. Teenagers are a work in progress and not a finished product. They are young and often immature and part of them growing into responsible young men includes mistakes along the way. No one is glorifying teenage immaturity’s but they are part of life. Show me another institution that prepares young men for life as well as our yeshivos. I’ll give you a hint, there aren’t any. Any secular or even modern orthodox parent would kill to see their teens only be tempted by cigarettes and not the needles their kids are using. Ultimately, a child who was raised by his parents not to smoke won’t as an adult. And the right yeshiva for him will make him a great husband and father, the likes of which can’t be found in any other society. So chill out, maybe a cigarette would help.
Ok so send your kids somewhere else and let me know how you like their purple and green hair, and the needles
And since when is rabbi yair Hoffman so fancy
I don’t think that the author was trying to convey that people should not send their sons to Yeshiva. I think they were trying to enlighten those that go that what they are doing is a Chillul Hashem, dangerous, and a destructive influence for others.
I agree with the author, and would think it is great even if one reader read this letter and stopped smoking.
Excellent points made. Thank you for this. I was also extremely limited in my yeshivah days by having to avoid smoking bochrim, and I am still limited in where I can go and whom I can sit near in shul due to the smell of smoke that remains in clothes for many hours. The people who misinterpret anything you say by exaggerating or minimizing any of your points are the ones who need to do teshuvah. If other readers want to raise a case about sugar or artificial chemicals or white bread or not enough vegetables or any other concerns in yeshivas, please feel free to do that, but don’t minimize the dangers of addictive smoking that is prevalent in far too many yeshiva students, which will continue to be a serious problem for them and their future families for decades to come.
Very important point. Of course not every yeshiva is that way, but so so many are, even the elite ones. In a certain elite yeshivos around since pre-1948 days which I’ve been to regularly, it’s even in the Beis Medrash itself! (Not naming them to avoid lashon hara, but very famous ones).
What’s fascinating to me is that I’ve noticed pretty much no one who goes to hesder yeshivos smokes…
Chinuch not chimichanga
Well, if a yeshiva at this day and age (like 50 years after surgeon general put his warnings off and maybe 70 years after R Kamenetsky stopped smoking because his doctor told him so) still can’t tell students not to smoke – then is not just “a” problem – it is indeed a sign that this yeshiva may not be great at teaching your kids. I highly doubt that it is easier to learn middos and machlokets of Abbaye and Rava than not to start smoking (I am not talking about those who are already addicted).
Someone already mentioned above that there are yeshivos that are doing better. And maybe some yeshivos have different haburos … So, check it out in advance. Maybe the easiest way – ask those who are smoking for the names of their yeshivos.
@SQUAREROOT are you telling me that the gedoleh hador such as the roshei yeshivos of ponevhitz, mir, bmg, gateshead yeshiva and others are not representatives of the olam hatorah