Yaakov Litzman's Anti-Smoking Campaign

Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman has been working hard to cut down the amount of smoking in Israel. His recent decision to raise the price of cigarettes has particularly upset many, especially within the Haredi public.

In response, Litzman's office is being flooded with complaints about the plan. the main theme of the organized campaign is "just let us smoke in peace".

Litzman said in response to the campaign against his efforts:

I am determined, because this is about saving lives," he stressed. "There is no rabbi or posek (halachic legal scholar) who permits smoking cigarettes. We'll continue destroying this phenomenon and saving lives, because it's our duty – to take responsibility and care for the public's health.

I just saw in Germany an interesting campaign against smoking. Someone converted a hearse, a funeral car, into a taxi, and advertises it as a smoking taxi, allowing passengers using his services to smoke. The unsuspecting smoker calls for the taxi, and to his shock a hearse pulls up. He drives the passenger to his destination, all the while the fellow is shocked to be in a hearse, with anti-smoking material around him.