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May 20, 2013

Interesting Psak: Smokers Can't Testify

Rav Eliyahu Abergil, a dayan, actually Av Beis Din of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court, who has been featured here a number of times for his unique approach and intersting piskei halacha, has now issued another interesting psak.

According to NRG, Rav Abergil has paskened that people who smokers are not valid witnesses. His explanation of the psak is that when a person has knowledge as to the dangers involved in smoking cigarettes and continues to smoke anyway is transgressing commandments in the Torah.

While the Shulchan Aruch and the Gemara state specific behaviors or transgressions that invalidate one from being a witness, and smoking is not listed, it seems the logic here is that a willful transgression with foreknowledge is just as bad as anything listed, and maybe makes one a rasha.

Rav Abergil adds that using drugs also definitely invalidates one from being a witness for he destroys his body and soul by doing so.

Rav Abergil adds that a smoker cannot be considered a shogeg anymore, as the dangers are now known to all and the warnings are printed in large right on the cigarettes packages.

So, some say you cannot be a witness if you smoke, while others say you cannot be a witness if you use an iPhone. The two at times likely overlap in the same person, forming perhaps the devil incarnate, but plenty of other times a witness might do just one of the two. So, according to the iPhone users, the smokers weddings are invalid, while according to the smokers the iPhone weddings are invalid. this could lead to an awful lot of children who are born with spiritual blemishes coming from such unions.. I wonder if this would be treated as a situation similar to that recorded in the mishna that despite the arguments between the houses of Hillel and Shammai that did not prevent them from marrying into each others families...


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