Baranovich Online
Lot 9:
Single page written on both sides.
The responsum is in his handwriting on his letterhead as Chief Rabbi of Israel. It discusses the topic of smoking on Tisha B’Av and other fast days. Rav Ovadiah brings the ruling of the Knesset HaGedolah which forbids it, but does not accept it as definitive. He quotes at length from the Geonim, Rishonim and Acharonim, adding that in our times, it has been proven unequivocally that smoking is hazardous to one’s health. He cites the Mishna Berura that one who accustoms himself to smoking violates the prohibition "But you shall greatly protect your souls, " and the well-known words of Maimonides on the importance of guarding one’s health. Rav Ovadiah discusses this topic in more detail in his work Yechaveh Da’at, volume 5, chapter 39. Another Torah topic fills the rest of the page continuing on to the reverse side.
Rav Ovadiah Yosef was the Chief Rabbi of Israel and the senior halachic authority of the Sephardic community. He established the Shas movement to restore the glory of Sephardic Jewry. He passed away in 2013 and his funeral was the largest in Israeli history.
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