Sephardic Chief Rabbi Insists All Cigarettes Kosher For Passover
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi ruled that it is permitted to smoke cigarettes that are not certified as kosher for Passover during the holiday.
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said in a satellite television broadcast that cigarettes do not need to be certified as leaven-free for Passover, though some cigarettes manufactured in Israel or abroad are certified as kosher for Passover.
He appeared to be responding to questions about whether American cigarettes need to be certified as kosher, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Yosef seemed to base part of his ruling on the fact that leaven is not forbidden if a dog will not eat it.
“If you put a cigarette in front of a dog, who is always hungry – he will eat anything. But put a cigarette in front him, will he smoke it? He won’t touch it,” the rabbi said in the Hebrew-language broadcast.
Yosef did indicate that it is better not to even start smoking, but added that if a person is already addicted, he doesn’t need certification.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO