The Great Charedi Smoke-Out
Cheers to Toldos Aharon!

I read here (via Yiddish Wikipedia) that the present rebbe of the Toldos Aharon sect issued two new edicts (takones) on Chanukah of this year - the traditional season for such things among this group of Chasidim. (I think the present rebbe is Rabbi Duvid Kahn, but Chasidic schismatics make my head spin.)

One takone has to do with not eating salad on Shabbos (I won't go into the reasons here). But the other is wonderful: it requires that adherents give up smoking for one day a week other than Shabbos (when religious Jews can't smoke anyway owing to prohibitions against burning). Maybe a few years from now smoking can be edict-ed out of existence in this group altogether!